9521600 Harris This Minority Research Planning Grant seeks to explore the concept of racial group consciousness as a source of collective action in three western-style democracies. It seeks to examine how racial exclusion and inequality in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa are and have been resisted by racially excluded groups through organized efforts. A comparative perspective on black political mobilization will also illuminate the strategies and tactics racially excluded groups adopt to resist systems of domination in their societies. In doing so, it will explore how citizenship and the notion of "race" have been historically formulated and contested by both dominated groups and state actors. By drawing on empirical data collected from opinion surveys, interviews, and methods of ethnography and participant observation, this approach to black political mobilization will provide a broader understanding of the political formation of racial group consciousness than existing research. A comparative perspective on race, state, and democracy will also inform researchers on how liberal democracies and their citizens respond to racial conflict and inequalities. ***
