aeo This is an original and timely book given the current rise in ethnicised politics. aeo The book is theoretically innovative -- bringing together current developments in sociological theory in relation to ethnic and "race" relations. aeo The book is highly comparative, including material from US, Continental Europe and the UK.

The Contributors. Modern Racisms, Racialized Identities: Ali Rattansi and Sallie Westwood. Part I: Racism and "Postmodernity". . 1. 'Western' Racisms, Ethnicities and Identitities in a 'Postmodern' Frame: Ali Rattansi. 2. Exploring Other Zones of the Postmodern: Problems of Ethnocentrism and Difference across the North-South Divide: David Slater. Part II: The Western Front. . 3. Unpacking the West: How European is Europe? Jan Nederveen Pieterse. 4. Egypt in America: Black Athena, Racism and Colonial Discourse: Robert Young. Part III: Racisms and Modernity in Europe. . 5. Racism in Europe: Unity and Diversity: Michel Wieviorka. 6. Explaining Racism in Contemporary Europe: Robert Miles. 7. Universalism and Difference: The Crisis of Anti-Racism in the UK and France: Cathie Lloyd. Part IV: Racialised Identities, Local and Global. . 8. Racism, Mental Illness and the Politics of Identity: Sallie Westwood. 9. Racial Formation and Hegemony: Global and Local Developments: Howard Winant. Index.

'The West' has a unique civilization, a powerful 'front' - modernity, liberty, democracy, affluence. This volume offers critical perspectives from both 'inside' and 'outside' the cultural and intellectual frontiers of the Western project. The primary focus is on analysing racism and changing ethnicities in Europe and the US in the context of new forms of global dislocation, economic recession, the resurgence of neo-Fascism, and a widespread sense of the crisis of Western modernity. The chapters assess the value of Marxist perspectives and newer approaches that take 'modernity' and 'postmodernity' as frameworks for analysis. They also explore how European identities have been continually reconstructed by a cultural repression of the 'non-Western', whether through colonial discourses, the denial of Asian, Islamic, Judaic and African influences or the effects of Eurocentric conceptions of subjectivity in the psychiatric disciplining of ethnic minorities. The chapters are written by some of the most original and influential writers in the field: they include Michel Wieviorka, Howard Winant, Robert Miles, Robert Young, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Sallie Westwood, Ali Rattansi and Cathie Lloyd.

"[The] strength of this collection is that it does not deliver a reassuring unanimity of opinion." Millennium "[This book] bring[s] together some of the most original and influential writers on racism and changing ethnicities in the context of recent transformations in Europe, the US and other parts of the globe." Sociology "This excellent book is a collection of nine uniformly perceptive essays, and deserves a warm welcome." Political Studies "This book has much to offer. In particular, its attention to the centrality of racism in the construction of western identities and the unpacking of the myths that are integral to the formation of the 'western front' provide a refreshing analysis of contemporary racisms." Patterns of Prejudice

The Contributors. Modern Racisms, Racialized Identities: Ali Rattansi and Sallie Westwood. Part I: Racism and "Postmodernity". Part II: The Western Front. Part III: Racisms and Modernity in Europe. Part IV: Racialised Identities, Local and Global. Index.