Ethnic conflicts and power

by Donald E. Gelfand

This volume is based on two premises: (1) that theory and racial and ethnic relations can be combined to make theoretical perspective relevant to racial and ethnic relations in many areas of the world; and (2) that students will find the book both a challenge and an introduction to sociological analysis. The author has used the basic theoretical framework of conflict theory. It is believed that the study of racial and ethnic relations has been dominated too long by concepts such as "minority" and "majority"; there has been a lack of emphasis on the degree to which ethnic relations involve questions of economic and political power and the distribution of this power.