Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis article argues that minority rights developed as an indemnity offered to defeated parties. As a grudging and begrudged calculus of compensation, considered inadequate by the vanquished and offensive by the victors, minority rights have been unable to compete in terms of legitimacy with either an increasingly robust international human rights regime or with the right of national self-determination. After reviewing some explanations for the weakness of the existing minority rights regime, this article traces the rationale of what may be described anachronistically as minority rights provisions in international treaties from the Peace of Westphalia to the Versailles settlement, concluding with a consideration of present-day implications of the argument elaborated here.

The research reported in this paper is an abridged version of a study exploring the views of ethnic minority communities in Renfrewshire. The study provided a voice to these communities in relation to their awareness of Renfrewshire Council's services and initiatives targeting ethnic minority groups. The study also surveyed the extent to which ethnic minorities engage with ethnic minority organisations designed to support their needs, the challenges they face and how they feel they are viewed by the indigenous 'white' community. Based on a series of focus groups, the findings reveal a lack of awareness among participants of Council services and initiatives aimed at ethnic minority communities. There is a varied level of engagement with ethnic minority voluntary and third sector organisations, a range of challenges including language barriers, perceived and actual racism, and some apprehension as to how ethnic minority groups are perceived by the indigenous white community. There are implications for key stakeholders such as the Council and others who should review their policies and practices to ensure that the needs and concerns of ethnically diverse communities in Renfrewshire are being addressed.

How do societies respond to great demographic change? This question lingers over the contemporary politics of the United States and other countries where persistent immigration has altered populations and may soon produce a majority minority milestone. Wielding historical analysis, fieldwork, and polling data, Majority Minority shows how states can leverage political institutions and rhetoric to deepen social divisions or evolve public understandings of the nation.