ETHNIC STUDIES 2COB
Instructor: Mario Barrera
University of California, Berkeley

Spring 1992

COMPARATIVE ETHNIC AND RACE RELATIONS

This a course on comparative ethnic and race relation in the contemporary world. Comparative ethnic relations is a large and rapidly growing area of study, so we will be able to sample only a small part of the literature.

We will begin the course by reading two books which explicitly compare race relations in South Africa and the American South. Since one of these books (Fredrickson) is written by a historian, and the other (Greenberg) by a social scientist, juxtaposing the works will enable us to not only compare the two areas but also the approaches derived from the two scholarly traditions. Both Fredrickson and Greenberg are concerned with analyzing the social stratification systems that have evolved in the two countries that is, how the various racial and ethnic groups are organized into hierarchical systems of subordination and domination. Both writers are also concerned with interrelating the racial stratification system and the class structure in the two countries, and both ask what effects the development of capitalism has had on race relations.

We will follow up with a novel by a Nigerian writer: Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People. In this book Achebe outlines some of the changes and the dilemmas facing African countries in the post colonial period.

In the next section we will read Beyond Aztlan, a comparative work that deals with ethnic and race relations in several other countries. The purpose of this book is to contrast the system of ethnic relations in the United States with those of several other countries. The focus here is more on culture, assimilation, nationalism, and regional autonomy.

The final section of the course will revolve around three books that are conceptual and theoretical in nature. Robert Miles' book seeks to clarify the concept of racism and to show its relationship to class relations, ideology, and politics. Edward Said's Orientalism is a key work in the growing field of cultural studies. It dissects the ethnocentric discourse that has been developed in the West to understand and to control large sections of Asia. Graeme Turner's British Cultural Studies, while not dealing directly with race and ethnicity, is a clearly written introduction to an emerging, interdisciplinary school of thought that is becoming increasingly influential in the analysis of ideology, the media, and social control. Some efforts have already been made, most notably by Stuart Hall, to apply this body of concepts to the analysis of race and ethnicity.

COURSE MATERIALS

The following books are available through the campus bookstore:

George Fredrickson. White Supremacy. Stanley Greenberg RRace and State in Capitalist Development.

Chinua Achebe. A Man of the People.

Mario Barrera. Beyond Aztlan.

Robert Miles. Racism.

Edward Said. Orientalism.

Graeme Turner. British Cultural Studies.

READING SCHEDULE

Week

1 Jan. 21 Fredrickson, introduction and chapters 13.

2 Jan. 28 Fredrickson. chapters 46

3 Feb. 4 Greenberg, chapters 16

4 Feb. 11 Greenberg, chapters 711

5 Feb. 18 Greenberg, chapters 12-17 and appendices

6 Feb. 25 Achebe

7 Mar. 3 Barrera, chapters 16

8 Mar. 10 Barrera, chapters 79

9 Mar. 17 Miles, chapters 12

10 Mar.. 31 Miles, chapters 34 and conclusion

11 Apr. 7 Said, pp. 11-66

12 Apr. 14 Said, pp. 167-end

13 Apr. 21 Turner, introduction and chapters 13

14 Apr. 28 Turner, chapters 4-6 and conclusion

15 May 5 no additional readings

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Please do the assigned reading for each week and be prepared to discuss it at the next week's meeting.

The Semester Paper

Each student will be expected to write a semester paper analyzing three additional books. These books are to be selected from the list of major works in the field attached to this syllabus. One book not on the list may be substituted as one of the three, but this must be approved by the instructor well ahead of time.

The basic idea of the semester paper is to allow you to do additional reading in the field and to further develop your analytic skills. The most common, although not necessarily the only, format would be to compare and contrast the three books, and to show how they relate to the themes of the course.

The papers will be due on Friday, May 8, but you are encouraged to turn them in earlier.

A one to two page Prospectus will be due at the fourth class meeting (Feb. 11), listing the three books you have chosen and your rationale for doing so.

Starting with the seventh class meeting (March 3), each student will be required to give an oral report in class, describing and analyzing one of the three books and relating it to the class topics.

SOME MAJOR WORKS IN THE FIELD OF COMPARATIVE

ETHNIC AND RACE RELATIONS

Adam, Heribert. Modernizing Racial Domination: The Dynamics of South African Politics. (1972)

Banton, Michael. Racial and Ethnic Competition. (1983)

Racial Theories. (1987)

Barth, Fredrik. (ed.) Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. (1969)

Breuilly, John. Nationalism and the State. (1985)

Castles, Stephen. Here for Good: Western Europe's New Ethnic Minorities. (1984)

Cell, John. The Highest State of White Supremacy: The Origins of Segregation in South Africa and the American South. (1982)

Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. The Empire Strikes Back: Race and Racism in 70's Britain. (1982)

Connor, Walker. Mexican Americans in Comparative Perspective. (1985)

The National Question in Marxist-Leninist Theory and Strategy. (1984

Degler, Carl. Neither Black Nor White. Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and in the United States. (1971)

Deutsch, Karl. Nationalism and Social Communication. (1966)

Devos, George and L. Romanucci-Ross. Ethnic Identity. (1975)

Devos, George and Hiroshi Wagatsuma. Japan's Invisible Race. (1966)

Dofny, J. and A. Akiwono. (eds.) National and Ethnic Movements. (1980)

Dreyer, June. China's Forty Millions. (1976)

Dunbar Ortiz, Roxanne. Indians of the Americas. (1984)

Enloe, Cynthia. Ethnic Conflict and Political Development. (1973)

Esman, Milton. (ed.) Ethnic Conflict in the Modern World. (1977)

Fishman, Joshua, et. al. Language and Nationalism. (1972)

Fontaine, PierreMichel. (ed.) Race, Class and Power in Brazil (1985) .

Francis, E.K. Interethnic Relations. (1976)

Furnivall, J.S. Colonial Policy and Practice. (1948)

Hechter, Michael. Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development, 15361966. (1975)

Hoetink, H. The Two Variants in Caribbean Race Relations. (1967)

Horowitz, Donald. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. (1985)

Keyes, Charles F. (ed.) Ethnic Change. (1981)

Klein, Herbert. African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean. (1986)

Kohn, Hans. The Idea of Nationalism. (1944)

Kuper, Leo. Race, Class and Power: Ideology and Revolutionarv Change In Plural Societies. (1974)

Kuper, Leo and M.G. Smith (eds.) Pluralism in Africa. (1969)

McRoberts, Kenneth and Dale Posgate. Quebec: Social Change and Political Crisis. (1980)

Miles, Robert. Racism and Migrant Labour. (1982)

Miles, Robert and Annie Phizachlea. White Man's Country: Racism in British Politics. (1984)

Morner, M. (ed.) Race and Class in Latin America. (1970)

Nairn, Tom. The Break-Up of Britain. (1981)

Okihiro, Gary. (ed.) In Resistance: Studies in African, Caribbean, and Afro-American History (1986)

Park, Robert. Race and Culture. (1950)

Rabushka, Alvin and Kenneth Shepsle. Politics in Plural Societies: A Theory of Democratic Instability. (1972)

Rex, John. The Ghetto and the Underclass. (1988)

Race, Colonialism and the City. (1973)

Race Relations in Sociological Theory. (1983)

Rex, John and David Mason. (eds.) Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations. (1986)

Schermerhorn, R.A. Comparative Ethnic Relations. (1970)

Schmid, Carol. Conflict and Consensus in Switzerland. (1981)

Shibutani, T. and K.M. Kwan. Ethnic Stratification: A Comparative Approach. (1965)

Smith, M.G. The Plural Society in the British West Indies. (1965)

Smith, Anthony. The Ethnic Revival in the Modern World. (1981)

Smith, Anthony. Nationalist Movements. (1976)

Smith, Anthony. State and Nation in the Third World: The Western State and African Nationalism. (1983)

Smith, Anthony. Theories of Nationalism. (1971)

UNESCO. Sociological Theories: Race and Colonialism. (1980)

van den Berghe, P.L. Race and Racism: A Comparative Perspective. (1967)

vand den Berghe, P.L. The Ethnic Phenomenon. (1981)

Zureik, E.T. The Palestinians in Israel: A Study in Internal Colonialism. (1979)