Ethnic mobilization and the logic of struggles for identity. A situationalist perspective beyond rational choice

Author(s): Schmidtke, O.

Journal/Book: Z Soz. 1998; 27: Postfach 30 03 66, D-70443 Stuttgart, Germany. Ferdinand Enke Verlag. 418+.

Abstract: Ethnic differentiation poses new challenges to sociological theory. Since such differentiation in modern societies has become a central moment of structurally caused cleavage and a central determinant of social status, more than simple corrections of traditional assumptions of modernization theory are required. At issue are the role of ascriptive factors in determining social positions, their identity-constituting aspect and the mode of functioning of related symbolic forms. This paper discusses a more recent approach to the phenomenon of ethnic differentiation, namely rational choice theory, under the aspect of its capacity to address the above-mentioned problems. The systematic restrictions which explain the success of this theory are then used to develop an alternative theoretical option for explicating the microfoundations of ethnic differentiation, which is called situationalism. The importance of the symbolic dimension, the phenomenon of evaluation and devaluation of status positions and forms of capital, and the resulting problem of symbolic power are developed in a situationalist approach which claims to grasp more adequately the dynamics of the collective dimension of what is at stake in processes of ethnic differentiation.

Note: Article Eder K, Humboldt Univ, Philosoph Fak 3, Univ Str 3B, D-10099 Berlin, GERMANY

Keyword(s): PRESIDENTIAL-ADDRESS; MODERN SOCIETY; PARTICIPATION; POLITICS

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