This book compares contemporary racism in the US and the Netherlands through in-depth interviews with fifty-five black women. As an interdisciplinary analysis of gendered social constructions of racism, it breaks new ground. Essed problematizes and reinterprets many of the meanings and everyday practices that the majority of society has come to take for granted. She addresses crucial but largely neglected dimensions of racism: how it is experienced; how black women recognize its covert manifestations; how they acquire this knowledge; and how they challenge racism in everyday life. To answer...

Until recently, race relations research has been an understudied and stigmatized area of the social sciences. This volume traces its emergence as a central topic, highlighting the major milestones that established it as a legitimate research domain.

The contributors, key figures in the post-war development of United States race research, relate their own experiences with race and racism and the developing interest in the understanding of race as a social force, giving the reader an insider's view of the field.

Studying across race and ethnic lines creates many problems for the researcher involving practical, strategic, ethical and epistemological questions alike. The contributors to this volume examine the array of methods used in quantitative, qualitative and comparative//historical research to show how ethnic-sensitive research can be carried out.

Among the methodological traditions discussed are survey research, demography, testing and assessment, ethnography, discourse analysis, comparative methods and archival research.

The influence of race and gender on the health status of nonwhite women in the United States is the theme of this book. Four distinct groups of women are examined closely: African Americans; American Indians and Alaskan Natives; Asian//Pacific Islander Americans; and Latinas. Contributors focus in particular on structural and cultural factors which affect women's health issues. The concluding chapter calls for the development of new paradigms to improve the delivery of health care for these women and for the US population as a whole.

Using the results of a participant observation study, Robyn M Holmes illustrates how young children learn about ethnic identity. Unlike many previous studies, performed in experimental and contrived settings, the author worked with children in a kindergarten environment. The resulting account uses the children's own words and drawings to illustrate their beliefs and understanding about race and ethnicity. Particular issues addressed include: how children understand group boundaries; view their selves; and develop an ethnic component of friendship, romance and procreation.