Suchergebnisse

Even today, before its effective European integration, Romania still witnesses strong diversity refusal at the general public level. This research paper deals with the Romanian majority representations of two of the most visible ethnic minorities in Romania -Hungarians and Gypsies- and pays attention to significant attitudes of discrimination and intolerance. Moreover, it examines some of the most important factors for ethnic tolerance. The social capital theory sets that participation in secondary organizations is a certain source for civic values, social trust and positive norms of reciprocity, commitment, honesty, tolerance and mutual respect. But in Romania the effects of participation are weaker than expected in this respect. The most important factors for tolerance are ethnic contact and -especially for the Gypsies- the spread of ethnic prejudices. Even education appears less important, a possible solution for the future development of ethnic tolerance is multicultural education, which offers the chance of a contact between still separated ethnic cultures in Romania.

In the early 1990s, Cameroon - like other sub-Saharan African countries - opened up to democratisation. In addition to the formation of some one hundred political parties, associations based on ethnic or regional identity mushroomed. Generally speaking, the elite & politicians peacefully mobilise parochial solidarities with the aim of maintaining their positions in the state, or of entering the state apparatus through ethnic votes - this is why the size of ethnic groups are an important factor in the rivalries between politicians. However, in Logone & Chari districts, situated in the border area between Cameroon, Nigeria, & Chad, the rivalry opposing the Kotoko to Shoa Arabs manifested itself in the form of interethnic violence. Demography played an important role in these conflicts, as it permitted Shoa Arabs to reverse the political majority. The Kotoko were the first inhabitants of the region, & had hitherto controlled traditional as well as modern power structures. In respect of the controversy over the population sizes of the two communities, this paper goes back in history to examine the role of epidemics & immigration in the numerical relationship between the two peoples. The manipulation of censuses, the relativity of ethnic differences, & new dimensions in the politics of ethnicity in North Cameroon are also considered.

Anatoly Khazanov, The ethnic situation in the Soviet Union as reflected in Soviet anthropology.
The main aim of this paper is to demoastrate that despite the fact that in the Soviet Union anthropology is claimed to be the science of ethnicity, and that Soviet anthropologists have paid particular attention to ethnic studies, they have failed to describe and to adequately estimate modem ethnic developments in the USSR. Instead, they preferred, or simply had to provide "scientific" arguments in support of the Party line. Only on rare occasions and in a semi-Aesopian language few of them pointed out the facts that in specific cases might be considered as contradicting official claims.
Even now, in the period of glasnosť, the ethnic situation in the Soviet Union is much more boldly discussed by the public and by representatives of other disciplines than by a majority of Soviet anthropologists. A question may be asked, whether this fact is connected with the circumstances within Soviet anthropology itself which have led to a reluctance or resistance by some members of its establishment to admit old sins and new realities.