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Mark Sawyer, University of California, Los Angeles, msawyer@polisci.ucla.edu
Diane-Michele Prindeville, New Mexico State University, dmprinde@nmsu.edu

This year's APSA conference theme of "Politics in Motion: Change and Complexity in the Contemporary Era" reflects a world undergoing rapid change due to unstable economic and political conditions, environmental crises, transnational migration, the growing globalization of popular culture, and increasingly multiracial identities. Much of the transformation occurring domestically and internationally has resulted in greater social, economic, and environmental inequities that create an even deeper chasm between the "haves" and "have nots". The "have nots" are excluded from power sharing based on their sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, national origin, age, physical ability, etc. or some combination (the intersection) of these identities.

The Race, Ethnicity and Politics Section has long been concerned with issues of power, equity, voice, and justice. So when the APSA conference committee challenged members to "bring our knowledge to bear beyond the academy" and asked the question "…What do we as scholars have to contribute on such broad concerns as social justice, nonviolent political change, and international peace…?" we thought our section (and others such as Women & Politics, Sexuality & Politics, and New Political Science, for example) would have a lot to say.

The Race, Ethnicity and Politics Section invites papers that:

• Bridge theory and practice
• Produce rigorous empirical research that can be applied to solve real life problems
• Identify strategies for empowering others and organizing student and/or citizen groups
• Provide examples for incorporating social justice or political activism into college courses
• Develop recommendations to aid policy-makers in reaching tough decisions
• Give voice to activist scholars who seek to make a difference in their communities

Papers that are forwarding looking and embrace multiple and complex political identities as well as multiple modes of political participation and expression are especially welcome. We also encourage papers that, in exploring change and complexity, cut across subfields in order to better understand race, ethnicity and politics as a space for exploring problems and collectively developing solutions.