The Tribal Basis of American Life: Racial, Religious, and Ethnic Groups in Conflict [Hardcover]

For 300 years, American culture and society have been shaped by ethnic conflict. This book reveals how the unique characteristics of the American socio-political system have impacted intergroup conflict. This contributed volume collects the most current thinking on intergroup dynamics and on specific conflicts and specific groups with a special emphasis on the Jewish-American experience.

The demographic portrait of this country has undergone vast changes. Many newly emerging groups that promote building group pride and solidarity are obtaining greater economic and political power. This current emphasis on groups also sheds light on the tribal dimension of the past in American life. This contributed volume examines how these forces are to be reconciled and will be of interest to students of sociology, religion, and multicultural studies.

MURRAY FRIEDMAN is the Director of the Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History, Temple University, and Middle Atlantic States Director for Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

NANCY ISSERMAN is the Associate Director of the Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History, Temple University.

Introduction: The Tribal Basis of American Life by Murray Friedman
Changing American Group Setting
Immigration, Pluralism and Public Policy by Gary Rubin
The Religious Roots of the Culture Wars: How Competing Moral Visions Fuel Cultural Conflict by James Davison Hunter and Kimon Howland Sargeant
Case Studies of Ethnic Conflict
The Tribes of Brooklyn: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the Crown Heights Riots by Jonathan Rieder
The Persistence of Anti-Asian Hatred by Gary Okihiro
The Dynamics of American Intergroup Conflict and Responses to Bigotry by Philip Perlmutter
Becoming Insiders: Factors Affecting the Creation and Maintenance of Boundaries for New Immigrants by Judith Goode
The World Setting and Response
Ethnic l³)