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characteristics, which can neither be abandoned nor adopted by an individual not born
within the parameters of a given group (Geertz, 1993:259).
Instrumentalist analyses view ethnicity as largely voluntarist (meaning that any
individual not born from the group may become a part of it if they adopt certain customs
or traditions) and elite driven; however, it is crucial to note that political elites are not
free to select any variable with which to mobilize mass support. Indeed, in order for the
elites to claim legitimacy the choice of symbols must in some way be related to existing
cultural or social traditions. Instrumentalists speculate that ethnic and national identities
are convenient tools at the hands of rival elites competing for mass support in the
universal struggle for “wealth, power and prestige” (A. Smith, 1986:9). As such,
instrumentalist explanations are favored by rational choice theorists, who also disdain
‘age-old hatred’ justifications for ethnic conflicts and disputes, and agree with those
analysts who propose that ethnic or nationalist groups are calculating, self-interested
collective actors who maximize material values through the vehicle of communal identity
(Young, 1993:99).
Constructivist theories closely overlap instrumentalist arguments and share
analogous beliefs that identities are continually redefined and reconstructed in response
to the ever-changing conditions of the political arena and the machinations of political
elites. According to constructivist theories the interplay between actors and their social
environment – the idea that actor’s words, deeds, and interactions shape the kind of world
in which they exist shape their own social milieu and the social context in turn shapes the
actors interests, identities, and behaviors (Ba and Hoffman, 2003:15-21). Constructivists
argue that culture is shaped by the perceptions of those living in a particular community
Convention