The Developing Countries Prize of the University of Gießen provokes academic contributions to the improvement of the living conditions in developing countries. This book is written to document the results of the interdisciplinary symposium The Role of Minorities in the Development Process which was held from October 28 to 30, 2002. Under which conditions are social groups regarded as minorities? Do minorities always cause politically relevant problems or do they also have a positive effect on the economic and social development of a country? What can politicians contribute to solutions aimed at preventing the exclusion of minorities in economic, religious or cultural respects or at least aimed at a lessening of said exclusions?