New Approaches to the Study of Identity Formation in Comparative Context

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

A substantial body of research in comparative politics has attested to the pervasive influence of social identities — such as religion, class, race, and ethnicity — on a diverse array of political outcomes in both the developed and the developing world. What have been relatively underexplored are the factors that contribute to the formation, persistence, and change of these identities in the short and long-run. Furthermore, the lack of systematic data and credible research designs often pose significant inferential challenges to examining the causal effect of these factors on social identities as an outcome. What are the sociopolitical conditions that contribute to the salience of certain identities over others? Do recent demographic shifts induced by global migration induce changes in host population identities? How do migration policies implemented generations earlier affect identities today? How do innovations in communications infrastructure affect the salience of ethnic versus national identities? Does the representation of Islamist political parties increase hostility and violence against religious minorities?
This panel represents a collective effort among scholars with a diversity of regional expertise— spanning sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia—to generate novel theoretical and empirical insights on the formation, persistence, and change in social identities across the developing world. The papers are historical and contemporary in their orientation, draw on observational and experimental data, and employ rigorous research designs aimed at probing causal relationships. Zhou studies the border region of Tanzania to show that the large influx of Burundian refugees has ossified national identities and increased hostility towards outsiders amongst the host population. Charnysh and Peisakhin examine how forced resettlement policies implemented in post-WWII Ukraine interact with community characteristics in shaping identities among descendants of resettled migrants. Choi, Laughlin, and Schultz show that the proliferation of mobile coverage in sub-Saharan Africa led to a significant decrease in national identities and a concomitant increase in ethnic identification. Kuipers, Nellis, and Weaver exploit discontinuities in the proportional representation system in local elections in Indonesia to show that incumbency by Islamist parties affects the incidence of religious violence and religious intolerance.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 12: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Cosponsor

• DIVISION 11: Comparative Politics

Individual Presentations

• Refugee Resentment, National Identity, and Citizen Participation in Africa - Yang-Yang Zhou, Princeton University

• The Role of Communities in Preserving Political Identities - Volha Charnysh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Leonid V. Peisakhin, New York University - Abu Dhabi

• Communication Technology and National Identity: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa - Danny Choi, University of Pittsburgh; Benjamin Laughlin, New York University Abu Dhabi; Anna Schultz, Washington University in St. Louis

• Does Electing Islamists Increase Religious Violence and Intolerance? - Nicholas Kuipers, UC Berkeley; Gareth Nellis, University of California, San Diego; Michael Weaver, The University of British Columbia

Chair

• Matthew Blackwell Harvard University

Discussants

• Matthew Blackwell Harvard University

• Lauren E Young University of California, Davis