. This article argues that the world is in the midst of a long‐term transition from dominant minority to dominant majority ethnicity. Whereas minority domination was common in premodern societies, modernity (with its accent on democracy and popular sovereignty) has engendered a shift to dominant majority ethnicity. The article begins with conceptual clarifications. The second section provides a broad overview of the general patterns of ethnic dominance that derive from the logic of modern nationalism and democratisation. The third section discusses remnants of dominant minorities in the modern era and suggests that their survival hinges on peculiar historical and social circumstances coupled with resistance to democratisation. The fourth section shifts the focus to dominant majorities in the modern era and their relationship to national identities. The article ends with a discussion of the fortunes of dominant ethnicity in the West.
In the previous decade, many scholars with expertise in the politics of the Middle East pointed to an intellectual gulf between Middle East studies and mainstream international and comparative political studies. Common perceptions that the Middle East experience was too exceptional to be theory‐relevant and that area studies work was excessively a‐theoretical were said to be responsible for the alleged chasm. If these concerns are taken at face value, a review of research published on authoritarianism and Islamic movements in the first years of the twenty‐first century in top academic presses and scholarly journals indicates that a counter trend has emerged. Middle East area experts are increasingly making use of theoretical frameworks produced by non‐Middle East specialists. There is, however, variation in how well disciplinary social science analytical tools are applied and in the significance of various works to theory‐building. More emphasis on theory‐testing and construction (rather than just theory application) as well as cross‐regional and cross‐cultural comparisons will increase the comparative value of works produced by Middle East area studies specialists and will add to their visibility in the discipline at large.
Theorists of contentious politics have been divided over the influence on agency behaviour of ideational or cultural factors on the one hand, and rational strategic calculations of opportunities on the other. Based on an Israeli nonparliamentary opposition movement to the peace process, this study presents an integrative approach in which ideational variables are elevated to the level of independent motivating forces in which the objectives of the movement are embedded. Argumentation at the strategic level provides the movement with opportunities for increasing its support basis beyond the natural constituency with which it shares ideology and, ultimately, for mobilizing protest. The case illustrates how a political context that limits activity actually mobilizes contention, while a context of more open opportunity can demobilize protest activity.
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