The variable ties that bind: Content and circumstance in ethnic processes

Abstract

Abstract This article attempts to disentangle the differential effects of content (what group members share) and circumstance (the situations they encounter) on ethnic processes. In contrast to much recent work in ethnic studies that pays attention primarily to the logic and process of boundary construction, the primary focus here is on what lies within the ethnic boundary, on the variable content of ethnic identities and the role content plays in patterns of ethnic persistence and change. The article proposes a typology of group attachments, suggesting that the content of collective identity varies continuously (low to high) along three dimensions: shared interests, shared institutions, shared culture. Ethnic groups vary ‐ within and across groups and over time ‐ in the degree to which each of these constitutes a basis of group attachment and, potentially at least, collective action. Furthermore, this variation has consequences, via interaction effects with circumstance, for patterns of group persistence...