Making an Identity Choice: “Opportunistic Alignment” in and beyond Consociational Systems: Evidence from South Tyrol and Bosnia Herzegovina

Abstract

The consociational model of democracy is one of the most employed systems for managing plural societies. In its corporate variant, it regulates political representation and participation by accommodating the interests of groups identified according to ascriptive criteria. In so doing, however, it marginalizes and even excludes all those bearers of identities not foreseen and included in the system. Generally grouped under the catch-all label “Others,” these individuals are confronted with the choice of either adapting to the ethnic divide or remaining left out. How do these citizen “Others” deal with ethnically connoted and organized states? The article, grounded in empirical material collected in South Tyrol and Bosnia Herzegovina, explores what mechanisms and strategies Others adopt when faced with structural obstacles, paying particular attention to the “identity choices” granting them greater inclusion and participation. It demonstrates that the self-interested mobilization of collective identities—here named “opportunistic alignment”—allows Others to overcome some of the rigidity and exclusivity allegedly entrenched in consociational systems, also exerting a stabilizing effect preventing substantial systemic changes. The study’s conclusions can however be broadened, informing a discussion going beyond the case studies and consociational settings too.