Start Here - POL 3369: Identity Politics in Comparative Perspective - Prof. Johnson, Fall 2020

Step 1: Overview of a Country and Its Minority Groups

Minority Rights Group International

Human rights organization based in London

Minority Rights Group International: World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
Search the directory for a profile report of one of the countries listed.

Minorities at Risk

A project based at the University of Maryland

"MAR tracks 284 politically-active ethnic groups throughout the world from 1945 to the present -- identifying where they are, what they do, and what happens to them. MAR focuses specifically on ethnopolitical groups, non-state communal groups that have "political significance" in the contemporary world because of their status and political actions."--from the "About MAR" page on the MAR website

Minorities at Risk: Data
Pick a region, then a country in the Minority Group Assessments section and also in the Minority Group Chronologies section. Then, on the list of countries in a region, click on the report for each of the groups listed in that country.

Sample country data page

Click on the links for each Group listed for the country you are researching.

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Step 2: Identify a Specific Policy in the Country You've Selected

Minority Rights Group Country Profiles

Look closely in the profile report for a country that you found in step 1 for any mention of a specific policy, law, initiative.

Step 3: Find Sources About the Policy You've Selected

Search for Articles on the Policy or Law

Go to library home page
In yellow search box, click "Define Your Search"
From the drop-down menu of options, select "Articles"
In the search box, type in your search this way: name of country AND specific policy or law name. Make sure that you type AND in capital letters. Example: colombia AND "law 70"

Also Search for Articles about a Specific Group in the Country

Go to library home page
In yellow search box, click "Define Your Search"
From the drop-down menu of options, select "Articles"
In the search box, type in your search this way: name of country AND ethnic or minority group. Make sure that you type AND in capital letters. Example: colombia AND palenqueros

Help Searching for Articles

Consult our guide to using "OneSearch" (the search system on the library home page)
Go to our Help page for live, 24/7 chat with a librarian

Identifying Resource Types in Search Results

After you use the search box for OneSearch on the library home page, you see results that include different kinds of resources. Above the title of each item (in blue) is a label identifying the resource type

ARTICLE
- if there's a "PEER REVIEWED" label on that listing, the article came from a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal
- if there's no label, the article is from a newspaper or magazine
BOOK
- If there is a green "Available Online" link in the listing, that's an ebook
- If there is no green "Available Online link, that's a print book
BOOK CHAPTER
- Chapter from an ebook
REFERENCE ENTRY
- entries from encyclopedias and dictionaries