Publisher's Synopsis
Bulgaria and Israel are two small countries with a surprising amount in common. Both are ethnically distinct from their neighbours; both have sizeable minority populations bearing a cultural affinity with a large and potentially threatening neighbour; both have internal ethnic schisms which are reinforced by a considerable degree of occupational and residential segregation and both countries are undergoing important changes as a result of the breakup of the Soviet Bloc and the realignment of international politics. In both countries, ethnic relations are a major topic of sociological investigation, and a major focus of national policy, as they strive to create a social situation in which ethnicity can find expression, while not threatening the basic cohesion and stability of the society. This invaluable collection of articles, by some of the best social scientists working today in the two countries, explores various aspects of ethnic and political tension in the two countries and the ways of coping with them. The book brings out not only similarities and differences between the two countries, but also the difference in both form and the content of sociological writing in the two countries and as such is, in itself, important source material for understanding these social questions and the ways they are being tackled.
