Within the realm of comparative politics, ethnicity has been conceptualized as both a fixed category in which individuals are born, as well as one of multiple identities that can be made politically salient by different actors. The latter perspective corresponds to instrumental and constructivist conceptualizations of ethnicity that seeks first and foremost to answer the question: ‘Under which circumstances will ethnicity activate and affect citizens’ political behavior?’ Since the 1990s, Latin American social movements began to ‘play the ethnic card’, which culminated with the first indigenous candidate ever, to win a presidential election in the region in 2005. Applying research designs based on instrumental and constructivist conceptualizations of ethnicity could significantly advance the study of Latin American social movements.
Keywords:
Ethnicity, Instrumentalism, Constructivism, Latin America, Research Design
Author Biography
Catarina P. Thomson, University of Exeter
Lecturer in Security and Strategic Studies at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Exeter.
Thomson, C. P. (2018). Instrumental and constructivist conceptualizations of ethnicity: implications for Latin American social movements research. Estudios Internacionales, 50(189), 63–76. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.2018.49050
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