Lawrence D. Bobo and Mia Tuan. Prejudice in Politics: Group Position, Public Opinion, and the Wisconsin Treaty Rights Dispute

Abstract

This is a unique and interesting book. In Prejudice in Politics, Lawrence Bobo and Mia Tuan study an ongoing conflict over Native American treaty rights in Wisconsin in the course of examining several theories of prejudice. The book is distinctive in its focus on white–Indian relations rather than the frequently examined white–black divide. It is a rare, theoretically driven investigation of unfolding events. It examines a theoretical perspective that has received little attention in survey-based research on prejudice. And it embeds nuanced and sophisticated survey research in the context of a compelling and dramatic story. Bobo and Tuan begin with a prologue, in which they introduce their “group position” perspective on prejudice, based on the work of Herbert Blumer. Like Blumer, they argue that studies of prejudice have been too focused on individual attitudes and have given too little attention to group status as an underpinning of the phenomenon. They also fault Blumer for his view that individual attitudes are not useful in understanding prejudice and that public opinion measured in surveys does not capture “real” public opinion. They maintain this balancing act throughout the volume—insisting that there is no one “right” way to understand prejudice, that it is a complex of social and psychological factors, both group interests and individual feelings—and claiming that the group position viewpoint is more useful than the other theories examined.