Citation

Olzak S. Soc. Sci. Res. 1987; 16(2): 185-210.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0049-089X(87)90016-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Studies of ethnic conflict and protest find patterns of systematic "cycles of protest" in which minorities become the targets of concentrated attack or instigate protests against discrimination and prejudice. Such cycles have been linked to the persistence of economic exploitation and the occurrence of economic contractions, which exacerbate ethnic tensions. Proponents of competition theory claim that rising levels of ethnic competition over jobs, housing, and other resources increases the likelihood of ethnic collective action. This paper extends competition theory by specifying the effects of changes in immigration flows and economics on ethnic competition. It uses data on collective actions in 80 large cities in the United States from 1877 through 1889 to test propositions about competition and contagion. Analyses reported here support the contention that (a) high levels and rapid rates of immigration, (b) increases in the wages of common laborers, (c) increases in business failures, and (d) contagion, indicated by the recency of prior waves of events, all raise rates of ethnic collective action.