This book offers a rigorous comparative historical analysis of Kenya, Tanzania, Bolivia, Peru, and the United States to demonstrate how colonial administrative rule, access to resources, nation building and language policies, as well as political entrepreneurs contribute to the politicization of ethnicity.

Anke Weber holds a PhD in political science from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and has worked for the World Bank, the JRC - European Commission, and Eurostat. She conducted extensive field work in Kenya and Tanzania and taught in Rwanda. Her research focuses on political salience of ethnicity, relations between ethnic diversity and education in Africa, and comparative indicators.
Wesley Hiers holds a PhD from UCLA, USA. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, from 2013 to 2015, and is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at Oberlin College, USA. His research interests lie at the intersection of political sociology, historical sociology, and race/ethnicity.
Anaïd Flesken holds a PhD from the University of Exeter, UK. She was a postdoctoral researcher at GIGA Hamburg, Germany, supported by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, before taking up an ESRC Fellowship at the University of Bristol, UK. Her principal research interest lies in the interplay between political and social processes in ethnically diverse societies.

Acknowledgements
1. Politicization of Ethnicity
2. The African Cases: Kenya and Tanzania
3. The Latin American Cases: Bolivia and Peru
4. The United States
5. Comparative Analysis