Identity Salience: A Neglected Dimension in the Measurement of Ethnic Divisions?

• In Event: The Politics of Identities

Abstract

Ethnic divisions are linked to critical political outcomes, such as weakened public goods provision and democratic system breakdown. Consequently, comparativists have a high interest in quantifying the relevance and the magnitude of ethnic divisions across countries. Cross-national indicators are usually constructed based on the ethnic composition of societies or actual material disparities between different groups. This paper taps into a different dimension: the salience of ethnic divisions, i.e. the subjective importance of ethnicity in political contexts. Adopting a social identity perspective, I argue that salience is an integral conceptual component of many arguments regarding ethnic politics, which may not directly mirror patterns of ethnic fractionalization and material inequality. To illustrate my point, I develop a measure for the political salience of ethnic divisions in Africa, drawing on data from 82 Afrobarometer surveys spanning 22 countries. The indicator is based on differences in government performance perceptions among 104 politically relevant ethnic group dyads. The results align with established knowledge from country-specific studies, accurately differentiating cases of high ethnic politicization, like Kenya, from those with lower levels, such as Senegal. They also track changes in ethnic divisions over time, echoing insights from qualitative scholarly works. However, statistical correlations with quantitative indices of ethnic fractionalization and inequality are low, indicating that the salience represents an independent dimension. The paper concludes with a discussion on the conceptual relevance of identity salience in the comparative study of ethnic politics, advocating for a stronger consideration of the salience dimension in certain research inquiries.

Author

• Simon Primus, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)