Promotional Information

Van den Berghe contends that intergroup relations are reducible to individuals competing for scarce resources. He argues that ethnic nepotism is, at its very foundation, biological. This new approach is expanded further, taking into account how ethnicity is responsive to a wide spectrum of environmental factors.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction: Theories and Ideologies of Ethnic Relations An Explanatory Framework Ethnicity as Kin Selection: The Biology of Nepotism Ethnicity and Resource Competition: The Ecology of Territoriality and Specialization Ethnicity and Coercion: The Politics of Hierarchy Some Recurrent Situations Colonial Empires Slavery Middleman Minorities Caste Consociationalism Assimilation The Formation, Persistence and Demise of Ethnicity Ethnicity and Other Bases of Sociality The Dynamics of Ethnicity Bibliography Index

About the Author

PIERRE L. VAN DEN BERGHE is the recipient of the Spivak Award from the American Sociological Association for sustained scholarly contributions throughout his career.