Evoking the resemblance: Descriptive representation of ethnic minorities

Abstract

The constructivist approach to political representation has shown that descriptive representation cannot be reduced to passive presence. Descriptive representatives rather actively contribute to the construction of constituencies’ identities. Nevertheless, the existing empirical literature still dominantly operationalizes descriptive representation as mere presence of group members in the representative institutions. This article adds to the previous efforts of rethinking descriptive representation in the more constructivist terms by defining it as consisting of two necessary elements: 1) construction of a representative through activation of claim-maker’s ethnicity, and 2) portrayals of ethnic constituency. The article argues that descriptive representation is performed through the use of diverse boundary mechanisms. In the process of positioning themselves and portraying their constituency, representatives work with and around ethnic boundaries. Using the case of ethnic minority representation in Serbia, the article demonstrates how resemblance or group membership is not necessarily transparent and self-evident. Instead, representatives first need to activate and deploy ethnic boundaries to be perceived as group’s descriptive representatives. In doing so, they also tell stories about ethnic groups, which are consequential upon the ways group members perceive themselves and relations within and across the boundaries.