Specialist Group on Ethnic Politics
Newsletter Winter 2000/2001

Dear Members,

At a recent get-together, we thought it might be a good idea if we began to issue members with a Newsletter informing you of the various ventures that we are engaged in. The idea is not to provide you with a regular monthly bulletin, but rather to provide you with an additional source of information of interest to all members of the group. For those of you who were wondering, our total world-wide membership now stands at 212.

At the time of writing, we have our fingers in various pies. These include applications to the European Consortium for Political Research for a workshop at this September’s conference in Canterbury, UK, an application to the (British) Economics and Social Research Council for funding a series of workshops, and negotiations with Macmillan/Palgrave concerning a publishing venture. Given that as of the time of writing, all three ventures are awaiting approval, we don’t think it particularly appropriate to release too many details. On the other hand, as and when positive results are achieved you will be the first to know. These comments notwithstanding, we are pleased to announce the commencement of two group ventures in which you are all invited to participate.

The first is that we have everything in place for the launch of ‘The Global Review of Ethnic Politics’. The journal which will be available online only, and at no charge, has an editorial team of ourselves and Maya Chadda from William Paterson University, New Jersey, with Chris Gilligan of the University of Ulster as Review Editor. We have secured funding from the Canadian Themis Foundation, Inc., and from the International Relations and Security Network, Switzerland for the journal whose first issue will be published in September this year. The editorial board has succeeded in attracting Antony Alcock, Milton Esman, Michael Hechter, Brendan O’Leary and John Rex among others. We are still working on the web site, but for a ‘sneak preview’ you can click at the link from the group’s home page. Now we are looking for paper submissions: original papers should be of between 6,000-8,000 words, research notes between 2,000 and 4,000, review essays between 3,000-4,000 and book reviews should consist of 800-1,000 words. Please send all submissions to k.cordell@plymouth.ac.uk, AND to s.wolff@bath.ac.uk We look forward to hearing from you.

The other main item of news is this: the Group has launched an occasional papers series entitled ‘Ethnic Politics Research Papers’. Submissions should be between 15,000-40,000 words in length, and follow the Harvard referencing system. Papers will be free if accessed from the website, or at £10.00 + £1.50 for packing in hardback. Drafts to Stefan and Karl. Once again, please try and make use of this facility. For the group to function effectively we need input. This forum should prove to be ideal for the production of (preliminary) findings from long-term research projects and similar ventures. Again, there is more information available on our website following the link to "Ethnic Politics Research Papers".

Finally on the academic front, please don’t forget we have a panel at this year’s UK Political Studies Association’s conference in Manchester. The panel is entitled: ‘Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Political, Social and Economic Dimensions’. We still have space for papers, so if you’ve got anything in the pipeline, once again, please get in touch.

That’s all for today. If you have any items you wish to put forward for the next issue of the Newsletter, please e-mail us. The frequency of the Newsletter will depend upon what we’ve on hand to put in it.

Best wishes,

Karl & Stefan