Elite-driven constructivist analyses, and more specifically historical institutionalist approach, trace how state institutions and the context of strategic interaction that they provide over time lead rationally-motivated leaders to vest a strong interest into politicizing nationalism and diffusing it among the society at large.
But, what is the nature of ethnic belonging, how is it forged and reproduced, why does it resonate among the community at large? This is a central interest of this paper.
Constructivist analyses of ethnic politicization expose how political leaders chose to appropriate symbols and grievances in order to frame problems in ethnic terms.
Yet, they are less revealing about why such a strategy resonates more or less among the society and why ethnic belonging is readily available to be politically mobilized.
The mobilizational potential of ethnicity is decisively shaped by a) preconditions such as a pool of minority leaders, activists and a cultural intelligentsia, and b) a deeper collective solidarity based not necessarily on a consciously held ethnic-cultural identity but on institutionalized practices and community-dependent ‘strategies of action’ that define how individuals routinely act in important spheres of their life such as economy and education.
These factors not only elucidate why ethnicity is politically available and potentially resonant but they also influence the kind of ethnic politics and nationalist strategies that emerge.
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