Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives

Product Description Although group conflict is hardly new, the last decade has seen a proliferation of conflicts engaging intrastate ethnic groups. It is estimated that two-thirds of violent conflicts being fought each year in every part of the globe including North America are ethnic conflicts. Unlike traditional warfare, civilians comprise more than 80 percent of the casualties, and the economic and psychological impact on survivors is often so devastating that some experts believe that ethnic conflict is the most destabilizing force in the post-Cold War world. Although these conflicts also have political, economic, and other causes, the purpose of this volume is to develop a psychological understanding of ethnic warfare. More specifically, Handbook of Ethnopolitical Conflict explores the function of ethnic, religious, and national identities in intergroup conflict. In addition, it features recommendations for policy makers with the intention to reduce or ameliorate the occurrences and consequences of these conflicts worldwide. Review "The William B. Gudykunst Outstanding Book Award, 2013, goes to Dan Landis and Rosita Albert for their extraordinary achievement in editing the Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives.  We members of the Selection Committee--Young Kim, Cookie Stephan, and David Sam―unanimously agree that, of the six books nominated, this Handbook of Ethnic Conflict is clearly the most worthy as the first recipient of this special award.  Dan and Rosita took on an intellectually ambitious project of presenting 20 original chapters, in which ethnic conflict is examined in varying historical, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts of 20 different countries or regions around the world.  The highly informative chapters offer population-specific insights, with which to examine and refine existing theories or to generate new ways of theorizing about the nature of interethnic conflict.  For this reason, we, committee members, applaud Dan Landis and Rosita Albert for a significant contribution they have made to a better understanding of intercultural relations, in general, and of ethnic conflict, in particular."Jan Pieter van OudenhovenPresident of the IAIR"Framing some forms of intrastate armed conflict as “ethnic” or “interethnic” conflict is a relatively recent phenomenon; this approach is featured effectively in the Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives, an exciting addition to the Springer series International and Cultural Psychology (series editor, Anthony Marsella)... . Organized geographically on the basis of eight areas (the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia, China, the eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, Central Africa, Europe, and Latin America), the handbook provides case studies of 20 ethnic conflicts ... ." (Kathleen Malley-Morrison and Tristyn Campbell, PsysCRITIQUES, Vol. 57, (46), November, 2012)For the full review, see link: http://www.apa.org/international/pi/2013/03/book-review.aspx"The Handbook of Ethnic Conflict embraces the critical focal mission of expanding our understanding of ethnic conflict by demonstrating both the regional diversity of conflict and the deep historical roots of these conflicts. The volume, like no other I have read, examines ethnic conflict on a global basis. Its chapters describe ethnic conflicts in The Pacific Rim, South East Asia, China, Latin America, Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Europe. The chapters demonstrate both unique and shared characteristics of the conflicts and illustrate how existing theories can (and cannot) be applied to understand the conflicts. This allows the reader to compare and contrast the conflicts, and determine how existing theories can be applied to understand each conflict. In addition to this region diversity, the chapters also trace the history of each conflict. The reader not only learns that the conflicts are not “modern” events, but also understands how these conflicts become imbedded in t