 | Minorities in the Open Society: Prisoners of Ambivalence Subjects: Humanities; Social Sciences; History; Cultural Studies; Anthropology; Sociology & Social Policy; British History; European History; African History; Modern History 1750-1945; Military & Naval History; Imperial & Colonial History; Social & Cultural History; Economic History; Race & Ethnicity; Ethnicity; Political & Economic Anthropology; Social & Cultural Anthropology; Race & Ethnic Studies; Social Theory; Sociology of Culture; Minorities in the Open Society (1986) challenges optimistic assumptions regarding race relations in western nations, namely that social justice will prevail without much effort. It examines the interests behind public affirmations of commitment to integration, and presents a range of contemporary and historical material which illustrate the double-binds created for minorities by the dominant communities, who offer equality with one hand while obstructing it with the other. Individual members of minorities may be given the opportunity to achieve social prominence - but only to carry out special jobs on behalf of the majority. Geoff Dench is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Community Studies & professor of sociology at Middlesex University. (Bowker Author Biography) |
