Title: Race and ethnicity.

POPLINE Document Number: 201484

Author(s):

See KO
Wilson WJ

Source citation:

In: Handbook of sociology, [edited by] Neil J. Smelser. Newbury Park, California, Sage Publications, 1988. :223-42.

Abstract:

To study the problem of race and ethnicity in terms of societal organizations is to recognize that the institutional processes of ordering actions and relations in terms of given social ends impose constraints on racial and ethnic group interaction whereby inter-group relations are structured, antagonisms are channeled, and group access to rewards and privileges is differentiated. As these processes undergo change, they bring about changes not only in patterns of intergroup interaction but in the differences in intragroup experiences as well. It is important to recognize that significant changes in intragroup behavior and experience may accompany changes in the larger society. A consideration of intragroup behavior is important because in modern industrial society the economic class position of subordinate ethnic group members determines in large measure their perception and definition of the problems of racial or ethnic inequality, the solutions they propose and support to eliminate the problems. The benefits that individual subordinate group members receive from changes in a society's ethnic or racial policies also tend to be related to their economic class position. The authors discuss group formation and ethnic identity, psychological aspects of intergroup boundaries, instrumental explanations of ethnic boundaries, patterns of intergroup contact, economic organization, class process and the cultural division of labor, state structures and group interests, and developmental processes and ethnic mobilization.

Keywords:

Global
Developing Countries
Developed Countries
Ethnic Groups
Race Relations
Group Processes
Socioeconomic Factors
Industrialization
Psychosocial Factors
Changes
Cultural Background
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Political Factors
Social Behavior
Behavior
Economic Factors
Economic Development
Social Change