This chapter examines the enumeration of ethnic populations in the census, where ‘the tribe question’ has been included since 1948. I trace its evolution – from its origins as self-evidently important with a self-evident list of groups – through numerous changes up to 2019. The powerful social imaginary of ‘42+ tribes’ comes from the 1969 census, despite the numerous changes since then. I show how changes in classifications over time, as well as the way they have been used and narrated by the state, reveal the multiple political purposes of classifying and counting ethnicity. In the colonial period, this centred on ethnic population distribution to support indirect rule via ethnicity, as well as tax collection and labour control. In the postcolonial period, ethnic demographic posturing for electoral purposes or ‘the tyranny of numbers’ became a major driver of interest in ‘the tribe question’. However, since 2009, the census has also been a site of recognition for minorities and of the painting of a portrait of a nation defined by its diversity. In this chapter, I also show how the quintessentially unambiguous nature of ethnic census codes has been rendered ambiguous in useful ways.

This chapter examines efforts to list Kenya’s ‘minorities’ and ‘marginalised communities,’ categories in the 2010 constitution entitled to affirmative action in government representation, resource distribution and public service employment. These are the first classifications with allocative consequences since colonial times. I examine how these terms are operationalised in legal cases, by government Commissions, and by civil society. I show the impossibility of arriving at a fixed list and illuminate myriad strategies for responding to competing political demands for status. These are quintessential examples of cultivated vagueness. I show how this enables both generosity in conferring special status and its application in divisive ways. I use three cases of code seeking – Nubian, Wayyu and Sakuye peoples – to further illustrate both how vague codes have become and how politically salient they are. I examine both the limits of classification in this space and explore ways to make them work to benefit marginalised people. I conclude with some alternatives to classification for remedying marginalisation.

Abraham Lincoln's political writings were the works of a practical politician, not a political philosopher. Yet, his understanding of American politics was deeply informed by wide and penetrating reading in 19th century liberal political economy. This reading convinced him to be a determined opponent of slavery, and a vigorous promoter of henry clay's 'American system.' both of these programs retained their hold on Lincoln, and when, after his election to the presidency of the United States in 1860, the republic was plunged into civil war over slavery, Lincoln guided the nation toward the erasure of legalized slavery and to an economy favourable to commerce and manufacturing. His victory in the civil war, cut short by his assassination in 1865, nevertheless changed the political culture of the nation for the next sixty years, and set the country on the slow but inexorable path of civil equality for the freed slaves.

This chapter addresses Kelsen’s democratic theory through the distinction that he established between ideal and real democracy. Starting from a reconceptualisation of Rousseau’s definition of democracy as full political self-determination, Kelsen negated the feasibility of ideal democracy as direct democracy while stating that heteronomy was impossible to overcome. Kelsen thus posed the problem of how heteronomy and freedom were reconciled in real democracy. By differentiating between the ideal and real significance of concepts such as the people and parliamentarism, Kelsen argued that such a reconciliation was made possible in the form of a ‘government by’ the people, based on freedom rights, parliamentarism, political party pluralism and respect of the minority. The chapter also shows how Kelsen critically addressed a series of political projects, movements and figures, from Lenin to Neo-jusnaturalism, passing through the supporters of corporative representation. Kelsen retained that their common objective to go beyond what he meant by real democracy was destined to create a political system characterised by heteronomy without freedom. In this respect, Kelsen developed a theory of democracy that was both a theory on how freedom and heteronomy could be reconciled and a defence of democracy against ideologically and politically connotated targets.

This chapter provides an overview of suicidal behaviours and suicide prevention strategies among minority groups, including refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The chapter highlights the interplay of cultural and gender diversity in shaping suicidal behaviours and emphasizes the need for tailored interventions that address the specific challenges faced by these populations. It reviews the existing literature on the prevalence of suicide among minority groups in both high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), examining the role of cultural factors, gender-based violence, and mental health issues. The chapter also discusses suicide prevention strategies in humanitarian settings, such as community engagement, gatekeeper training, cultural adaptation of interventions, and the importance of integrating mental health services into primary healthcare services. The chapter highlights evidence-based practices recommended by research, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The conclusion underscores the need of a comprehensive, culturally sensitive approach and calls for further research, increased investment in mental health infrastructure, and the development of gender-sensitive strategies to reduce the burden of suicide among minority groups in humanitarian contexts.

Chapter 6 will compare how shareholders in the three countries monitor management by voice from the perspective of the tradeoff between management autonomy and monitoring management. Japanese and Chinese corporate laws give shareholders wider decision-making power compared to the US corporate law. On the other hand, Japanese and Chinese corporate laws provide an ambiguous fiduciary duty of directors, which allows management to balance stakeholder interests, while the US law provides a strict fiduciary duty to shareholders. The three countries share similar disclosure regulations, both by corporate law and securities regulation. Institutionalization of stock ownership structure strengthened shareholder activism since the 1990s in the United States, and now Japan is catching up. In China, shareholder activism is historically nearly absent; however, the China Securities Investor Service Center (ISC) has raised a substantial number of shareholder activism cases and has become influential in Chinese corporate governance.

Chapter 7 considers the boundary for the end of girlhood under international law. It applies Welby’s Meaning Triad to discuss the sense, meaning and significance of the current definition of child in the CRC. It argues that this definition is problematic on several grounds: absence of a minimum age for the end of girlhood, discrepancy between the end of girlhood and emancipation, possibility of unequal treatment on the grounds of gender, national domicile, and between girls under domestic law. It examines positive features of the CRC and the benefit for girls to be covered until eighteen years. It also analyzes ‘childist’ provisions of the CRC and empowering provisions of other treaties, and whether girls should reach majority before eighteen years. It conducts case studies of child justice and child marriage. Finally, it employs semioethics to identify amendments to the definition of child in the CRC that would tackle its shortcomings.

In developmental processes and outcomes, the individual and the context are inextricably connected throughout the lifespan. As an individual from an unorthodox background, my academic career is full of continuities and discontinuities, as one of the most influential books from my advisor, Jerome Kagan, asserted. In retrospect, my upbringing gave me the cultural, ethnic, minority worldview. From the start my education gave me the opportunity to have essential intellectual tools and eventually become bicultural and critical of our academic field. Consistently and strategically, my scholarly, administrative, and volunteer work led to questioning and pushing boundaries of the dominant academic canon; this was achieved by making critical connections with like-minded scholars and institutions, and working directly at the top of mainstream scholarship, educational institutions, and professional organizations. A contextual developmental analysis of my academic trajectory provides evidence of the constant, powerful dialectic relationship of the individual and the context. It all makes sense now.

While reaction ruled, Germany was in the midst of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and overall modernization, and the Jews were often considered as prime agents of this development. However, a close look discloses Jewish communities living mainly in small towns, working in local commerce and in traditional branches of industry. Still, it seems that they were moving forward more quickly than others, more easily accepting change, enjoying more favorable demographic trends, and quickly improving their educational level. As a typical example, the chapter presents a sketch of one family history, that of the Liebermanns, who held on to their commercial interests in cotton and silk, but then slowly expanded to become larger-scale industrial entrepreneurs, centered in Berlin and later in Silesia too, gradually moving to more modern and more large-scale production sectors. On the whole, the Jewish way of modernization added one more route to the multiple varieties of such routes in Germany. Through their unique perspective, the various possibilities of moving towards modernity are more easily perceived, enriching the overall picture of this process as a whole, especially in Germany.

Sex and minority groups such as LGBT, sexual desire and sexual identity as fluid or dimensional phenomena, differences (or lack of differences) in desire in minority groups, special issues in relationships for minority groups such as discrimination, and effects of ageing,

This chapter analyzes different fields of Buddhist constitutionalism in contemporary Myanmar, arguing for expanding the study of Buddhist constitutionalism to include “secular” civil law and the Penal Code, which prima facie promote equality between religious and ethnic groups. Thus, the key regulatory issue at stake is not only sangha affairs, but also the privileging of Buddhism vis-à-vis other religions in a wide array of policies and state law. This broad approach opens up for identifying multiple aspects of Buddhist constitutionalism, such as unwritten or “living” forms of Buddhist constitutionalism, in addition to its political forms and manifestations. This practice of Buddhist statecraft is, however, challenged by ethnic and religious minority communities in Myanmar. After the 2021 military coup, the democratic opposition in its new “Federal Democracy Charter” declared an end to Buddhist constitutional privileges, while the military junta positions itself as the protector of Buddhist constitutionalism as enshrined in the 2008 Constitution.

Romanian Germans came to exist as a group under the pressure of political circumstances after 1918. In the century that followed, Romanian Germans tried to make sense of their experiences in modern Europe through their stories and memories. If the story is ostensibly about a shrinking group of German speakers mainly from the Banat and Transylvania in Romania, the introduction frames their century as a study of practices of identity, memory, and transnational migration. In an introductory excursion into Romanian Germans as a group, this chapter sets out ground-breaking ways of understanding minorities. The introduction challenges scholars to reassess the performative element of identity and memory, moving away from essentialist explanations of minorities and diaspora towards a more vibrant and transnational approach.