Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture

Race, ethnicity and culture are concepts of extreme relevance in society today, and yet continue to be interpreted in various and often contradictory ways. The Dictionary provides the historical background and etymology of a wide range of words related to these concepts, looking at discourses of race, ethnicity and culture from a broadly multicultural perspective.

This new and up-to-date dictionary contains numerous references to both European and American concepts, debates and terms that are relevant today- including words such as ′boat people′, ′cybernazis′, ′ebonics′ as well as more established words and terms, such as ′affirmative action′, ′caste′, ′fortress Europe′ and many more.

The editors have brought together a group of internationally prominent academics and practitioners to produce this definite reference and research tool. Contributors include anthropologists, biologists, lawyers, philosophers, sociologists and psychologists, enabling the Dictionary to bring an interdisciplinary approach to the subject matter, and a rich variety of voice and content that would otherwise be absent.

The Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture will provide a valuable tool for scholars, students, professionals and policy makers. It will help undergraduate and graduate students to use conceptual material effectively to write better essays, and will be an essential source of reference in the professional fields, particularly for social workers and teachers.

Sociologist, trade unionist of CGIL in the 80’s after a bitter internal conflict with the extremist fringe, he quits the National Labour Confederation to serve in the Public Administration. At the beginning he works at the Welfare Ministry and then in the early 90’s at the Foreign Office as consultant on immigration issues of the Foreign Secretary Gianni De Michelis. In this service he took part to: the elaboration and enactment of the Martelli Law (1990); to the Commission for the accession of Italy to the Schengen Agreement; to the preparation of the Intergovernmental Conference for the Reform of EEC Treaties; to the OECD Conference of Rome on international migrations. Director General of the Ministry for the Italians abroad and the Immigration he coordinates the preparatory works for the Boniver Law (1992) on the right to citizenship and those of the Contri Commission in charge of the elaboration of an organic law on the legal status of the foreign citizen in Italy (1993). Chief of Department of the Ministry of Welfare he represents Italy in the group of the national functionaries on the free circulation within the EU chaired by Simon Veil. As Chief of the Cabinet he presides the cross-ministerial group in charge of the elaboration of the Turco-Napolitano Law (1998) and the Committee for the foreign unaccompanied minors. In 2001 he is appointed by Minister Roberto Maroni Chief of Department of the Ministry of Welfare and ad interim of the Ministry of Labour. Since 2009 he is consultant of the Shengen Parliamentary Committee and since 2010 of the Committee for the Italian Islam of the Ministry of the Interior. Besides a number of scientific publications, he hosted on Rai 3 Prima Pagina e RadioTre Mondo. He collaborates with the main Italian headings such as Repubblica, and il Corriere della Sera and the publishing house Il Mulino. He currently writes for Il Sole 24 Ore. Peter Braham lectured in sociology at the Open University for many years. He made major contributions to a number of Open University courses: Patterns of Inequality; Ethnic Minorities and Community Relations; Mass Communication and Society; An Introduction to Sociology; ′Race′, Education and Society; Understanding Modern Societies; Implementing New Technologies; An Introduction to Information Technology; Culture, Media and Identities; Studying Family and Community History: 19th and 20th Centuries; and Sociology and Society. He co-edited Discrimination and Disadvantage in Employment: the Experience of Black Workers [1981]; Media, Knowledge and Power [1986]; Racism and Antiracism [1992]; Political and Economic Forms of Modernity [1992]; Social Differences and Divisions [2002]; Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture [2003]. His main research interests have been in migration and settlement, child immigration and family reunification, and he has been the UK partner on several international research projects in these areas.