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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Ethnic studies > General
Shireen Hunter provides a pragmatic analysis of relations between Islam and the West, marked by specific cases from the contemporary Islamic/Western divide. Her book gives a realistic and accurate assessment of the relative role of civilizational factors in determining the nature of the state and the prospects for Muslim-Western relations (i.e., whether they will be conflictual or cooperative). Hunter answers the question: Can an accommodation between Islam and the West take place in a gradual and evolutionary manner or will it happen only after conflict and confrontation? And, contrary to Huntington's vaunted thesis in "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" (Simon & Schuster, 1996), she finds that the reality of modern Islam offers room for hope. Hunter challenges many of the prevailing Western views of the Muslim world. For example, despite the widespread belief on the specificity of Islam because of an assumed fusion of politics and religion, in reality the fusion--of the spiritual and the temporal--has not been greater in Islam than in other religions. Therefore, Hunter asserts, the slower pace of secularization in Muslim countries can not be attributed to IslaM's specificity. This is a major study that will be of interest to concerned citizens as well as scholars and students of the Middle East and Islam.
Since 2004, the Baby Doll Mardi Gras tradition in New Orleans has gone from an obscure, almost forgotten practice to a flourishing cultural force. The original Baby Dolls were groups of black women, and some men, in the early Jim Crow era who adopted New Orleans street masking tradition as a unique form of fun and self-expression against a backdrop of racial discrimination. Wearing short dresses, bloomers, bonnets, and garters with money tucked tight, they strutted, sang ribald songs, chanted, and danced on Mardi Gras Day and on St. Joseph feast night. Today's Baby Dolls continue the tradition of one of the first street women's masking and marching groups in the United States. They joyfully and unabashedly defy gender roles, claiming public space and proclaiming through their performance their right to social citizenship. Essayists draw on interviews, theoretical perspectives, archival material, and historical assessments to describe women's cultural performances that take place on the streets of New Orleans. They recount the history and contemporary resurgence of the Baby Dolls while delving into the larger cultural meaning of the phenomenon. Over 140 color photographs and personal narratives of immersive experiences provide passionate testimony of the impact of the Baby Dolls on their audiences. Fifteen artists offer statements regarding their work documenting and inspired by the tradition as it stimulates their imagination to present a practice that revitalizes the spirit.
The Encyclopedia of Frontier Literature surveys 400 years of North American frontier literature. Within this literary context, the roles of women and minorities are given special attention, as is the expansion of the American West. The sheer scope of frontier literature is striking; this genre belongs as much to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and James Fenimore Cooper as it does to Willa Cather and Jessamyn West. From novels, short stories, and poetry to theater, oratory, outdoor dramas, songs, biographies, diaries, journals, and logbooks, frontier literature is characterized and unified by its rich expression of human experience. In the 94 alphabetized entries in this volume, readers will find dozens of authors and hundreds of works represented, as well as biographies, key concepts, terms, geographic locations, literary motifs, and dominant themes, including Explorers of the Frontier, Law and Order, Native Americans in Literature, Naturalists, and Poetry of the Frontier.
Chile's natural beauty, fascinating history, cultural traditions, and warm people are uniquely evoked in "Culture and Customs of Chile." Chilean American Castillo-Feliu effectively conveys how Chile's geography has helped to shape it into a modern, socially responsible model in Latin America. Students and other readers will learn how this small country has contributed to the hemisphere's stature, from a stable political scene to seafood-inspired cuisine. Chile's lively history forms the backdrop for a survey of a wealth of social riches. The literary lion Pablo Neruda, Andean music, and fine wine are just a few of the highlights found herein. Because it has been such a model country, except for a troubled period in the 1970s and 1980s under the dictator Augusto Pinochet, Chile often stays out of headline news in the United States. Through chapters on history and people, religion, social customs, broadcasting and print media, literature, performing arts, and the arts and architecture, "Culture and Customs of Chile" will introduce Chile to a wider audience who can appreciate its understated charms. A chronology and appendix of the Spanish of Chile are indispensable aids.
This innovative work provides a new model for the analysis of ethnic and racial settlement patterns in the U.S. and Canada. Ethnoburbs-suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas--are multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual, and often multinational communities in which one ethnic minority group has a significant concentration but does not necessarily constitute a majority. Wei Li documents the processes that have evolved with the spatial transformation of the Chinese American community of Los Angeles and converted the San Gabriel Valley into ethnoburbs in the latter half of the twentieth century and examines the opportunities and challenges that occurred as a result of these changes. Traditional ethnic and immigrant settlements customarily take the form of either ghettos or enclaves. Thus the majority of scholarly publications and mass media covering the San Gabriel Valley has described it as a Chinatown located in Los Angeles' suburbs. Li offers a completely different approach to understanding and analyzing this fascinating place. By conducting interviews with residents, a comparative spatial examination of census data and other statistical sources, and field work--coupled with her own holistic view of the area--Li gives readers an effective and fine-tuned socio-spatial analysis of the evolution of a new type of racially-defined place.
This book tells about the attack on the three institutes that God established. Marriage and family, Government, and the church. The attempt to destroy these institutes have distorted the view of what God intended them to be. The judgment of God is already on this nation.
President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty did more than offer aid to needy Americans; in some cities, it also sparked both racial conflict and cooperation. "Race and the War on Poverty" examines the African American and Mexican American community organizations in Los Angeles that emerged to implement War on Poverty programs. It explores how organizers applied democratic vision and political savvy to community action, and how the ongoing African American, Chicano, and feminist movements in turn shaped the contours of the War on Poverty's goals, programs, and cultural identity. Robert Bauman describes how the Watts riots of 1965 accelerated the creation of a black community-controlled agency, the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. The example of the WLCAC, combined with a burgeoning Chicano movement, inspired Mexican Americans to create The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) and the Chicana Service Action Center. Bauman explores the connections that wove together the War on Poverty, the Watts revolt, and local movements in ways that empowered the participants economically, culturally, and politically. Although heated battles over race and other cultural issues sometimes derailed the programs, these organizations produced lasting positive effects for the communities they touched. Despite Nixon-era budget cuts and the nation's turn toward conservatism, the War on Poverty continues to be fought today as these agencies embrace the changing politics, economics, and demographics of Los Angeles. "Race and the War on Poverty" shows how the struggle to end poverty evolved in ways that would have surprised its planners, supporters, and detractors--and that what began as a grand vision at the national level continues to thrive on the streets of the community.
In Thirteen Miracles and Counting, Elenita Aguilar is a girl growing up in America in a Cuban expatriate family. Her family and life are a rich mixture of characters, cultures, laughter, and the unexpected miracles they find in everyday life.
This provocative volume is the first book to offer an extensive examination of the nature of poverty and its relationship to gender and ethnicity in five post-communist societies. As nations make the difficult transition from socialism to capitalism, the extent and nature of poverty tends to change and, because of this, the proportion of the population living in poverty tends to change. As a result, the proportion of the population living in poverty has increased sharply in these countries. The contributors contend that a "new poverty" is in the making and that the growing underclass is strongly related to ethnicity, as such an underclass is more likely to form if there is a sizeable Roma (Gypsy) minority. The question of whether gender interacts with poverty the same way ethnicity does is the subject of intense controversy and is addressed here in lucid, accessible prose. In this comprehensive analysis of the interaction between poverty, ethnicity, and gender in East European transitional societies, the contributors thoughtfully address the relevant issues and relationships and conclude that poverty has become deeper and increasingly long-term in Eastern European nations. Although it is clear that poverty increased in Eastern Europe during the market transition, the extent and nature of the changes have not yet been illuminated. Covering Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, the contributors analyze the interaction between poverty, ethnicity, and gender in an effort to explain the changing nature of poverty and the formation of an underclass in these countries. Roma (Gypsies) arise as the most likely candidates for membership in the new underclass, as they were alwayseconomically disadvantaged and the targets of discriminatory practices. On the other hand, however because they were often better educated than men during socialism, women may have been relatively advantaged, at least temporarily, during the market transition. Thus while poverty may be "racialized" during the transformation, it may not yet be "feminized." In this comparative assessment of social trends in this region, the contributors consider what they mean for the countries where they occur.
Through an interdisciplinary conversation with contributors from social anthropology, religious studies, film studies, literary studies, cultural studies, and history, Crafting Chinese Memories is a novel book which addresses how works of art shape memories, and offers new ways of conceptualising storytelling, memory-making, art, and materiality. It explores the memories of artists, filmmakers, novelists, storytellers, and persons who come to terms with their own histories even as they reveal the social memories of watershed events in modern China.
Featuring hundreds of personal anecdotes by Latino college students against a backdrop of information on their culture, history, and academic needs and strengths, this book offers a compelling and exacting view of the world of Latino students and their families. With a large percentage of public school students being Latino, the future of America is intertwined with that of Latino youth and their educational experience. Who are these children, and how are they transforming and being transformed by this nation? Voces: Latino Students on Life in the United States serves to answer these questions, putting the focus on the voices of Latino youth and presenting the research through the real-world experiences and individual perspectives of Latino college students. The students' highly compelling yet rarely heard stories reveal the rewards and challenges of navigating two cultures and languages in school, home, and their communities and offer suggestions for how best to help other Latino youth. The student contributions are analyzed against a backdrop of information on Latino Americans, such as demographics, Spanish-English bilingualism, beliefs, traditions, and cultural practices, putting special emphasis on factors that bear on the academic and social wellbeing of Latino youth. Taking an assets-based approach, the book underscores the strengths of these students and spotlights how they are poised to enrich the American mosaic. Introduces readers to the experiences of Latino students through personal interviews and autobiographical essays Provides an overview of the culture, history, and linguistic practices of U.S. Latinos Presents a non-technical summary of the needs and strengths of Latino students as identified in the research literature Provides concrete examples of the strategies and tools used by Latino youth to deal with adversity and succeed in life Takes real-world situations to demonstrate how the actions of educators and other adults help or hinder these students
This important book provides the first substantial analysis of white working class perspectives on themes of multiculturalism and change in the UK, creating an opportunity for these 'silent voices' to be heard. Based on over 200 interviews in multiple sites the results are startling - challenging politicians, policy makers and researchers. Improving our understanding of how this group went from 'hero to zero', became framed as racist, resistant to change and disconnected from politics, the book suggests a new and progressive agenda for white working class communities to become a fully inclusive part of a modern and diverse country in the 21st century.
Unpardonable Crimes: The Legacy of Fidel Castro presents a series of stories that, although written as fiction, are based on real events told author Celestino Heres by his family and friends. Everyone has a story to tell, and oftentimes there is a story behind a story. Many of the events that actually occurred in Cuba prior to, during, and after the Revolution might never have been made public; this collection attempts to counteract that secrecy. The first story, "From Buchenwald to Connecticut," is the story of Heres's father-in-law, Raul, a jewelry manufacturer in Cuba. "Bitter Victory" was related to Heres by his two dearest friends, who suffered imprisonment in Castro's gulag. The rest of the tales were born from the myriad conversations he had with many Cuban friends over more than forty years. As is often the case with stories of war, many stories of the Cuban people will go to the graves with the men and women who lived them, like footprints in the sand after the rising of the tide. This collection demonstrates the common threads of the struggle of Cubans to survive under the cruel oppression of Fidel Castro and Fidel's betrayal of his own people.
Connecting the views of the Hull-House and early Chicago sociologists to issues of race and gender, Deegan offers a new perspective on race relations in Chicago from 1892 until 1960. She challenges the assumption that race relations activists had to choose either to align with W.E.B. DuBois or Booker T. Washington if they studied American race relations. Questioning the "established accounts" concerning the so-called Chicago way of thinking and doing sociology at the University of Chicago, she expands the role of the Chicago School of Race Relations by including more scholars, more political action, and more years within its compass. By examining the relationship between Hull-House, female and African-American sociologists, and the early Chicago school, Deegan dispels some of the common misconceptions that view Hull-House, especially, as an elitist, prejudiced, and moralistic institution. Chicago was a tumultuous place in 1892: immigration, industrialization, urbanization, and corruption created an atmosphere of profound change. Rising to the challenge, Jane Addams and her social settlement Hull-House saw hope for a new moral order and worked closely with friends and colleagues at the newly opened University of Chicago. Both institutions became centers for the study of society, including the peculiar nature of American race relations. Here, Deegan connects the views of the Hull-House and early Chicago sociologists to issues of race and gender, especially to the now-famous accounts of the Chicago school of sociology and its subgroup, the Chicago School of Race Relations. This thoughtful and carefully articulated analysis sheds light on the ways in which institutions and the peopleassociated with them helped to shape sociological thought about race relations in particular and sociology in general.
When Captain John Smith stepped ashore in the New World to found the Jamestown Settlement in 1607, the Chickahominy Indians were there. If you have wondered what life was like in the 1600's from the perspective of the First Americans, this brief ethnohistory will tell you the truth you may not have read in your school history books. The Chickahominy Indians-Eastern Division are the 21st century ancestors of the Indians who kept the colonizers alive and showed them how to grow the tobacco that made them rich. Four hundred years later, the ancestors of those Indians live in relative obscurity in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Find out what life was like then and how the modern Indians have survived in an often hostile and unfriendly world.
Governmental social institutions are responsible for major policy decisions that deeply affect our everyday lives. This edited collection analyzes the effects of the main macro-social systems--law and politics, economic development, education, social welfare, health, mental health, transportation, housing, and religion--on the lives of African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans. The contributors, who are experts with the particular fields they address, reveal that macro-social systems are characterized by widespread, severe discrimination in the form of laws, attitudes, and behaviors towards ethnic minorities. Their analyses, which include both historical and contemporary perspectives, are accompanied by suggestions for policy measures aimed at improving the lives of ethnic minorities.
The game of football has undergone massive changes in the past few decades. The creation of the F.A. Premier League, the influx of television revenue, the commercialization of the game, and the growth in the numbers of foreign players have all left their mark. One area that has attracted increasing interest in the media and amongst the pages of football magazines is the issue of race and racism in football. But until now, the complexities of the situation have often been neglected in the midst of moral activism. Why has football become such an important arena for the expression of racist and xenophobic attitudes? How are racial and ethnic identities constructed and re-constructed in everyday social interactions and ritual gatherings? This highly readable and accessible book provides the first systematic and empirically grounded account of the role of race, nation and identity within contemporary football cultures. Focused around the four clubs on which the authors did their research, the book shows how different clubs understand and experience race in different ways. Looking at football at a national level, the authors trace the history of racism and its impact on the contemporary game. The emphasis throughout is on the changing role of racial and ethnic identity in football over the years. This book draws on research conducted at the height of campaigning activity within the game, as well as on contemporary scholarship about racism and sport. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in football, sport, race and ethnic studies. |
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