This collection of original essays breaks new ground by examining the dynamics of ethnic politics at the local level, rather than following in the footsteps of many previous studies which focus on the macropolitical level of states and nations.
Governance in Ethnically Mixed Cities is based on extensive fieldwork and local observation, providing perspectives from a range of academic disciplines including Political Science, Geography, and Anthropology. It covers a variety of geographic areas from the Middle East (Kirkuk, Haifa, and Tel Aviv-Jaffa) to Europe (Mostar, Bolzano, Toulouse, and Florence), Central Asia (Osh in Kyrgyzstan) and the United States (Durham, North Carolina). In spite of the variety of disciplinary approaches and geographic diversity of the case studies, the contributing authors uncover a number of common elements of local ethnopolitical dynamics in mixed cities: the power of informal institutions, the effect of numerical balances between groups on local politics, and the significance of local competition for material and symbolic resources. Each of these areas provides a promising avenue for future research.
1. Politics is Local: Ethnoreligious Dynamics under the Microscope Sherrill Stroschein 2. The Power of Administrative Categories: Emerging Notions of Citizenship in the Divided City of Mostar Larissa Vetters 3. Informal (Ethno-) Politics and Local Authority Figures in Osh, Kyrgyzstan Matteo Fumagalli 4. Faultline Citizenship: Ethno-National Politics, Minority Mobilization, and Governance in the Israeli ‘Mixed Cities’ of Haifa and Tel Aviv-Jaffa Joseph Leibovitz 5. The Future of Kirkuk David Romano 6. Living Apart in the Same Room: Analysis of the Management of Linguistic Diversity in Bolzano Andrea Carlá 7. Decentralization, Democratic Participation and Authoritarian Dogma: Local Opposition to Minority Integration in France, Italy and the United States Harlan Koff
Biography
Dr. Sherrill Stroschein is a Lecturer in Politics in the Department of Political Science, University College London, and Program Coordinator of the MSc in Democracy and Democratisation.
