Monitoring Ethnic Relations in Western and Eastern Europe
Describes issues that came up during the process of designing the Ethnobarometer Project (EP) of the European Observatory on Racism & Xenophobia, intended to monitor & report the state of ethnic relations in 10 countries of Western & Eastern Europe. The basic elements of an effective monitoring system are described, noting the importance of selecting the most efficient crossnational common denominators to provide a framework for gathering/reporting information, especially in terms of concepts, terminology, & indicators. Differences between early warning & monitoring systems are examined, along with problems stemming from conceptual or terminological issues, including ambiguities, politically loaded terminology, & peculiarities of individual countries. The need for clear definitions of concepts is stressed, along with ways to achieve them. It is contended that monitoring must be guided by theory in both the selection of the object to be monitored & the indicators used. The theoretical foundations guiding the EP's focus on ethnopolitically relevant groups is discussed, & difficulties related to sources/data, as well as East-West comparisons, are explored. 40 References. J. Lindroth
