In this thought-provoking book, Ali Mirsepassi explores the concept of modernity and exposes the Eurocentric prejudices underlying its development. He provides a new interpretation of Islamic Fundamentalism through a detailed analysis of the ideas of key Islamic intellectuals and argues that the Iranian Revolution was not a simple clash between modernity and tradition but an attempt to accommodate modernity within a sense of authentic Islamic identity and culture. He concludes by assessing the future of secularism and democracy in the Middle East in general, and in Iran in particular.

As much as Americans believe in the promise of an egalitarian, color-blind society, the reality is far from that ideal. People of color consistently lag behind their white counterparts in key quality-of-life areas. Despite many significant gains, widespread structural inequalities continue to exist and thrive. Race and Social Problems takes the long view of this state of affairs, offering both multi-level analysis and a practical blueprint for social justice. It begins by explaining how race-related social problems have changed over the decades. This volume identifies factors contributing to their persistence in this century, most notably the central role of economic disparities in exacerbating related social problems and replicating them for future generations. The chapters expand on this knowledge by detailing innovative and successful strategies for addressing aspects of six major areas of inequality: Poverty: challenging standard American concepts of poverty. Education: approaches toward closing the achievement gap. Intergroup relations: enhancing race dialogues. Family and lifespan: programs targeting families, youth, and elderly. Criminal justice: reducing incarceration and increasing public safety. Health and mental health: promoting positive outcomes. Race and Social Problems casts a wide net across the most pressing social issues, clarifying both the immediate and larger tasks ahead for a range of professionals in such diverse fields as social work, anthropology, communications, criminology, economics, history, law, political science, psychology, public health, and sociology.

This edited collection explores the conjunction of multiculturalism and the self in literature and culture studies, and brings together essays by prominent researchers interested in literature and culture whose critical perspectives inform discussions of specific examples of multicultural contexts in which individuals and communities strive to maintain their identities. The book is divided into two major parts, the first of which comprises literary representations of multiculturalism and discussions of its impasses and impacts in fictional circumstances. In turn, the second part primarily focuses on culture at large and real-life consequences. Taken together, the two complementary parts offer an illuminating and well-rounded overview of representations of multiculturalism in literature and contemporary culture from a variety of critical perspectives.

Since the early nineteenth century, African-Americans have turned to Black newspapers to monitor the mainstream media and to develop alternative interpretations of public events. Ronald Jacobs tells the stories of these newspapers--in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles--for the first time, comparing African-American and "mainstream" media coverage of racial crises such as the Watts riot, the beating of Rodney King, the Los Angeles uprisings and the O. J. Simpson trial. In an engaging yet scholarly style, Jacobs shows us why a strong African-American press is still needed today.

In this ground-breaking collection of essays, the editors and authors develop the idea of Linguistic Citizenship. This notion highlights the importance of practices whereby vulnerable speakers themselves exercise control over their languages, and draws attention to the ways in which alternative voices can be inserted into processes and structures that otherwise alienate those they were designed to support. The chapters discuss issues of decoloniality and multilingualism in the global South, and together retheorize how to accommodate diversity in complexly multilingual/ multicultural societies. Offering a framework anchored in transformative notions of democratic and reflexive citizenship, it prompts readers to critically rethink how existing contemporary frameworks such as Linguistic Human Rights rest on disempowering forms of multilingualism that channel discourses of diversity into specific predetermined cultural and linguistic identities.

Religion, Art, and Visual Culture gathers together the most current scholarship on art, religion, visual culture, and cultural studies. The book approaches the study of world religions through the human, meaning-making activity of seeing. The essays move between specific visual subjects (painting, landscape gardens, calligraphy, architecture, mass media) and the broader theoretical discourses relevant to religion and the wider humanities today. Topics covered include art and perception; the iconicity of Jesus Christ; the relation of word and image in Islam and divine images in India.

The Lahu, with a population of around 470,000, inhabit the mountainous country in Yunnan Province bordering on Burma, Laos and northern Thailand. Buddhists, with a long history of resistance to the Chinese Han majority, the Lahu are currently facing a serious collapse of their traditional social system, with the highest suicide rate in the world, large scale human trafficking of their women, alcoholism and poverty. This book, based on extensive original research including long-term anthropological research among the Lahu, provides an overview of the traditional way of life of the Lahu, their social system, culture and beliefs, and discusses the ways in which these are changing. It shows how the Lahu are especially vulnerable because of their lack of political representatives and a state educated elite which can engage with, and be part of, the government administrative system. The Lahu are one of many relatively small ethnic minorities in China - overall the book provides an example of how the Chinese government approaches these relatively small ethnic minorities.

Following an extraordinary debut--17th place in 1911 Boston Marathon--Penobscot Indian Andrew Sockalexis returned to run a spectacular Boston Marathon on muddy, rainy course on April 19, 1912. Only 20 years old, running just his third marathon ever, he came in second and narrowly missed breaking the record time for that course. That same year he became the first Native American to compete in the Olympics, returning to his home of Indian Island, Maine, a champion. Ed Rice chronicles the tragically short life of Sockalexis--he died at the age of 27 from what was likely tuberculosi--focusing on his running and the races that earned him recognition from the sports community and made him revered at home. Mike Ryan, who beat Sockalexis in that 1912 Boston Marathon, had this to say about his rival: "He is a wonder, and when he gains a little more experience he will be a tough one to beat."

This book utilizes narratives from U.S. and Caribbean scholars to examine the viability of sociologists changing the world from below through sporadic interdependent networks (Piven 2008). The conclusion reached is that in its current state, the academy can do little to improve conditions in society, as sociologists are themselves embattled by defeating narratives revolving around: poor personal experiences; the recalcitrance of Old World history; European epistemological meta-narratives, and; the multi-paradigmatic criteria for determining sociological knowledge. If sociologists are to finally influence society then the academy has to first overcome its calcified European and Anglo-American principles of domination.

The second edition of Melanie Bush's acclaimed Everyday Forms of Whiteness looks at the often-unseen ways racism impacts our lives. The author has interviewed and surveyed hundreds of college students and reveals that even though we talk as though we live in a "post-racial" world after the election of Barack Obama, racism is still very much a factor in everyday life. The second edition incorporates new data and interviews to show how the everyday thinking of ordinary people contributes to the perpetuation of systemic racialized inequality. The book introduces key terms for the study for race and ethnicity, reveals the mechanisms that support the racial hierarchy in U.S. society, then outlines ways we can challenge long-standing patterns of racial inequality.

This is the very first edited collection on International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the oldest of the UN international human rights treaties. It draws together a range of commentators including current or former members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), along with academic and other experts, to discuss the meaning and relevance of the treaty on its fiftieth anniversary. The contributions examine the shift from a narrow understanding of racial discrimination in the 1960s, premised on countering colonialism and apartheid, to a wider meaning today drawing in a range of groups such as minorities, indigenous peoples, caste groups, and Afro-descendants. In its unique combination of CERD and expert analysis, the collection acts as an essential guide to the international understanding of racial discrimination and the pathway towards its elimination. -- .

Multiculturalism is one of the most controversial ideas in contemporary politics. In this new book George Crowder examines some of the leading responses to multiculturalism, both supportive and critical, found in the work of recent political theorists. The book provides a clear and accessible introduction to a diverse array of thinkers who have engaged with multiculturalism. These include Will Kymlicka, whose account of cultural rights is seminal, liberal critics of multiculturalism such as Brian Barry and Susan Okin, and multiculturalist critics of liberalism including Charles Taylor, Iris Marion Young, James Tully, and Bhikhu Parekh. In addition the discussion covers a wide range of other perspectives on multiculturalism - libertarian, feminist, democratic, nationalist, cosmopolitan - and rival accounts of Islamic and Confucian political culture. While offering a balanced assessment of these theories, Crowder also argues the case for a distinctive liberal-pluralist approach to multiculturalism, combining a liberal framework that emphasises the importance of personal autonomy with the value pluralism of thinkers such as Isaiah Berlin. This clear and comprehensive account will be an indispensable textbook for students in politics, sociology and political and social theory.

This is a surprising portrait of the pastel city, a masterly study of Cuban immigration and exile, and a sly account of vile moments in the Cold War. Miami may be the sunniest place in America but this is Didion's darkest book, in which she explores American efforts to overthrow the Castro regime, Miami's civic corruption and racist treatment of its large black community.

Based on three years of fieldwork in Zhanli, a remote Kam Village in Guizhou Province, Wang and Jiang explore the complex dynamics between the discursive practices of the local government and the villagers in relation to the reconstruction of Kam identity in response to social change, particularly the rise of rural tourism. China's profound demographic and socio-economic transformation has intensified the dominance of Han culture and language and seriously challenged the traditional cultures in ethnic minority areas. The authors draw on multiple empirical sources, including in-depth interviews with Kam villagers and local officials, field observations, media discourse, local archives and government documents. They present an engaging account of the significant compromises that government and villagers have made in relation to ethnic identity in the name of economic development, and of the tensions and struggles that characterise the ongoing process of ethnic identity reconstruction. Students and researchers in sociolinguistics, ethnography, and discourse studies, especially those with an interest in Chinese discourse, and everyone interested in issues around ethnicity (minzu) issues in China, will find this book a valuable resource.

Storying Relationships explores the sexual lives of young British Muslims in their own words and through their own stories. It finds engaging and surprising stories in a variety of settings: when young people are chatting with their friends; conversing more formally within families and communities; scribbling in their diaries; and writing blogs, poems and books to share or publish. These stories challenge stereotypes about Muslims, who are frequently portrayed as unhappy in love and sexually different. The young people who emerge in this book, contradicting racist and Islamophobic stereotypes, are assertive and creative, finding and making their own ways in matters of the body and the heart. Their stories - about single life, meeting and dating, pressure and expectations, sex, love, marriage and dreams - are at once specific to the young British Muslims who tell them, and resonant reflections of human experience.

The Germans of today are the descendants of Celts, Romans, Saxons, Franks, Alaman, Poles, Mazurians, Sorbs, Kashubians, Pomoranians, Obodrites, Polabians, Czechs, Frenchmen, Italians, Croats, Turks and many more. Numerous cultural divides, for instance the cleavage between Protestants and Catholics, have crossed Germany, and many do so today. Often in history the cultural divides have produced harsh conflicts, once even genocide, but in most cases the various groups have successfully cooperated, or at least peacefully coexisted side by side, in spite of their differences. Wolfgang Zank gives a graphic account of the German experiences on this field, good and bad ones, and analyzes the mechanisms which in different times have allowed for cooperation or, conversely, have produced conflicts. He builds his presentation upon a wide range of academic historical research and integrates it into an innovative framework of conflict sociology.

This book analyses the Uyghur community, presenting a brief historical background of the Uyghurs and debating the challenges of emerging Uyghur nationalism in the early 20th century. It elaborates on key issues within the community, such as the identity and current state of religion and worship. It also offers a thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the Uyghur diaspora, addressing the issue of identity politics, the position of the Uyghurs in Central Asia, and the relations of the Uyghurs with Beijing, notably analyzing the 2009 Urumqi clashes and their long term impact on Turkish-Chinese relations. Re-examining Urghur identity through the lens of history, religion and politics, this is a key read for all scholars interested in China, Eurasia and questions of ethnicity and religion.

Reparation and Reconciliation is the first book to reveal thenineteenth-century struggle for racial integration on U.S. collegecampuses. As the Civil War ended, the need to heal the scars of slavery,expand the middle class, and reunite the nation engendered a dramaticinterest in higher education by policy makers, voluntary associations, andAfrican Americans more broadly. Formed in 1846 by Protestant abolitionists,the American Missionary Association united a network of colleges opento all, designed especially to educate African American and white studentstogether, both male and female. The AMA and its affiliates envisioned integratedcampuses as a training ground to produce a new leadership class for aracially integrated democracy. Case studies at three colleges-Berea College,Oberlin College, and Howard University-reveal the strategies administratorsused and the challenges they faced as higher education quickly developedas a competitive social field. Through a detailed analysis of archival and press data, Christi M. Smithdemonstrates that pressures between organisations-including charities andfoundations-and the emergent field of competitive higher education led tothe differentiation and exclusion of African Americans, Appalachian whites,and white women from coeducational higher education and illuminates theactors and the strategies that led to the persistent salience of race over othersocial boundaries.

This book provides a rigorously researched introduction to the relationship between Christianity, race, and sport in the United States. Christianity, Race, and Sport examines how Protestant Christianity and race have interacted, often to the detriment of Black bodies, throughout the sporting world over the last century. Important sporting figures and case studies discussed include: the sanctification of baseball player Jackie Robinson; the domestication of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman; religious expressions of athletes in the NFL; treatment of African American tennis player Serena Williams; Colin Kaepernick and his prophetic voice. This accessible and conversational book is essential reading for undergraduate students approaching religion and race or religion and sport for the first time, as well as those working within the sociology of sport, sport studies, history of sport, or philosophy of sport.

This book provides a rigorously researched introduction to the relationship between Christianity, race, and sport in the United States. Christianity, Race, and Sport examines how Protestant Christianity and race have interacted, often to the detriment of Black bodies, throughout the sporting world over the last century. Important sporting figures and case studies discussed include: the sanctification of baseball player Jackie Robinson; the domestication of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman; religious expressions of athletes in the NFL; treatment of African American tennis player Serena Williams; Colin Kaepernick and his prophetic voice. This accessible and conversational book is essential reading for undergraduate students approaching religion and race or religion and sport for the first time, as well as those working within the sociology of sport, sport studies, history of sport, or philosophy of sport.

Racism and sectarianism makes an important contribution to the discussion on the 'crisis of anti-racism' in the United Kingdom. The book looks at two phenomena that are rarely examined together - racism and sectarianism. The author argues that thinking critically about sectarianism and other racisms in Northern Ireland helps to clear up some confusions regarding 'race' and ethnicity. Many of the prominent themes in debates on racism and anti-racism in the UK today - the role of religion, racism and 'terrorism', community cohesion - were central to discussions on sectarianism in Northern Ireland during the conflict and peace process. The book provides a sustained critique of the Race Relations paradigm that dominates official anti-racism and sketches out some elements of an emancipatory anti-racism. -- .

This book situates migrating individuals' sense of Otherness in receiving countries front and center and systematically illustrates the configuration of Western migrants' Other-identity during their reverse migration from the West to China, which has become a new destination of international migration due to its rise to prominence in the global labor market. Consequently, international migrants from Western countries, especially those with skills desired in China, have become this country's main target in the global race for talent. In this context, this book attends to American migrants on the Chinese mainland, who are perceived as the prototypical waiguoren in this region, as an illuminating case, and illustrates the configuration of their Other-identity, rising from their intercultural adaptation as the privileged but marginalized Other in an asymmetric power structure. This book also attempts to reveal the condition and process of Chinese Othering of American migrants that exists but is far less openly discussed in China.

Core textbook for the race and ethnicity course taught at the sophomore/junior level in sociology departments at 4-year institutions. Race in Society is a comprehensive book about the sociology of race in America. The purpose of the book is to introduce readers to current research scholarship on race, emphasizing the socially constructed basis of race and the persistence of racial inequality in American institutions. The book is anchored in contemporary social science scholarship (and some classical works), but is written in a narrative style to engage reader interest and make it accessible to a wide audience. Key Themes include: 1.What does race mean? How does it change and emerge over time? 2.How do people think about race and what are the consequences? 3.How is race structured into social institutions? 4.What are different policies and approaches for change toward racial justice?

The immigration of Muslims to the United States and European countries has created challenges of integration and political participation as well as opportunities for increased understanding and acceptance. Through a systematic survey of Muslim immigrant views of Islam, democracy, and pluralism, Cesari examines their interactions with host countries and home communities. Particular attention is given to differences among host countries' policies towards citizenship, state-religion relations, and social tolerance of ethnic or national differences.

Relations between Muslims and non-Muslims have received unprecedented attention since 9/11. In many predominantly non-Muslim countries intense debates have focused on international relations with Muslim-majority states, but dilemmas of national policy and practice in incorporating domestic Muslim minorities have also provoked heated argument. Meanwhile, within predominantly Muslim societies, and within Muslim diasporas, relationships with non-Muslims have posed pressing questions about compatibility, antagonism or adaptation of beliefs, identities and customs. The essays forming this multidisciplinary collection analyse concerns arising from clashing perceptions of Muslims in the political and cultural spheres: the majority of chapters deal with non-Muslim representations of Muslims, but several chapters reverse the perspective by examining Muslims own understandings of their relationships with non-Muslim societies. Contributors include: Ahmed K. al-Rawi, Ebru . Canan-Sokullu, Tereza Capelos, Gaetan Clavien, Danila Genovese, Matteo Gianni, Signe Kjaer J rgensen, Priyasha Kaul, Chloe Patton, Timothy Peace, Mirjam Shatanawi, Dunya van Troost, and John Turner.