Constructivism Concept Map

Multiplicity

Andrew Janusz

FLUIDITY

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Plaza Catedral

Breaking down the concepts that make up constructivism.

Sara MillmanGVPT459C5/18/23

"Why Ethnic Parties Succeed"

Taeku Lee

ENDOGENEITY

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Constructivism

REFERENCES

In the film Plaza Catedral, by Abner Benaim, there is a common cultural notion that is threaded between multiple aspects of the film, "mestizaje". Mestizaje can be defined as the idea of race-mixing that began in the 1900s as the foundation of several Latin countries in an effort to look beyond race and see all individuals as mixed and therefore "equals". There is much conversation surrounding the myth of mestizaje, but regardless of its outcome its reality contributes to the idea of multiple identities. People belonging to the mestizo population are of mainly European and Native American backgrounds and within those groups are additional ethnic groups as well. Therefore, characters in the film can be seen as having multiple identities even if they are not explicitly stated. This notion of mestizaje can also be seen as being multi-layered in that while two individuals may be of the same ethnicity, Latino in this case, they may also have different nationalities, which can also have an influence on their perspectives. For example, in the film, one of the characters, Alicia, identifies as Mexican but is also of a lighter skin tone and therefore is awarded social capital in instances where Alexis, a young Panamian boy, is not. Thus, the forcing together of paths of these two individuals' paths due to unforeseen circumstances, reveals both the differences in perspective, but also existing bridges between their identities.

Andrew Janusz's article provides an example in which particular public figures such as politicians also participate in the concept of fluidity regarding identity. Through the analysis of Brazilian elections, Janusz's study found that over a quarter of candidates that participated in the 2014 and 2016 elections in Brazil altered the identity of their race between each election. His data "suggest that candidates "racially position" themselves as members of the racial group that provides the greatest electoral awards" (Janusz, 2021), with 84.5 percent of candidates who altered their race identity in the election changing to a racial group that was larger than the one they previously identified with. This shows how one's identity can in fact change due to the particular context, as well as provides evidence of how multiple variables such as one's identity and political outcomes can have a potential influence on one another.

Taeku Lee's discussion and analysis of the concept of the "identity-to-politics link" points to some potential dangers in using this notion to understand political situations. One of the errors that he highlights concerns the concept of endogeneity. He mentions that the way in which the variable identity is situated within the regression analysis implies that it is "exogenous" (the opposite of endogenous and therefore meaning not impacted by another variable in the equation) to political outcomes (Lee, 2008). Thus, Lee is promoting the importance for identity to be considered an endogenous variable to political outcomes such as one's own political stance in regard to an issue. He discusses how various literature provides evidence in support of the idea that not only can identity influence one's political choices, but the political actions one becomes involved with can also play a part in shaping their identity.

In Chandra's "Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India", her analysis as to why certain ethnic parties are able to be successful surrounds the idea of patronage democracies which rely on a system of equilibrium, and therefore to an extent, the endogeneity of certain variables. For example, within patronage democracies in India, higher up officials have the ability to restrict access to jobs and other resources resulting in limited obtained information by voters. Therefore, this makes voters more susceptible to the influence of elected officials but also results in the importance of elected officials to gain the votes of individuals if they want to maintain their position. This contributes to the pattern of vote decisions being based upon the aspect of "ethnic favoritism", due to ethnicity being a cue that leads to easy mobilization. (Chandra, 2004). Therefore, because both the elected officials and voters buy into this notion, patronage democracies are maintained and even grow. This circle of equilibrium and the relationship between voters' and officials' influence on one another further demonstrates the idea of endogeneity and how several variables are related to one another.

Another key part to understanding constructivism is the idea that how a person ethnically or racially identifies can change based on the context and/or environment. Therefore, this is to say that an individual's identity is not fixed. For example, one specific topic area where the relevance of fluid identities can be seen is in that of studies on ethnic violence that Chandra discusses. She mentions that in a majority of the literature on this subject there are two distinct groups, the majority and the minority and that all individuals involved belong to one side or the other no matter the particular context (Chandra, 2001). This understanding disregards the potential of a person identifying with one group or the other having the ability to change.

Multiplicity is the idea that an individual can have multiple ethnic and/or racial identities and therefore can belong to more than one category of individuals. For example, as explained by Kanchan Chandra in "Cumulative Findings in the Study of Ethnic Politics", when discussing how certain ethnic groups may be related to particular outcomes concerning political, economic or social issues, it is essential to consider how many and what different ethnic and racial groups individuals could identify with and therefore be involved (Chandra, 2001).

The notion of constructivism has three core components that are outlined below in the concept map: multiplicity, fluidity and endogeneity. These core aspects will be broken down and explained in simpler terms within the concept map. Additionally, the work of other authors is used in order to reference these components to help better understand the meaning behind them and how they play into the greater concept of constructivism.

Another way to understand the idea of endogeneity is to apply it to a circumstantial situation. For example, within a political party there are a number of individuals who identify with said party. Thus, it can be argued from the constructivist perspective, that said individual's identity is related to and/or influenced by their political party affiliation and the greater political structure as well. In other words, an individual's categories that they identify with and values that they hold can directly result in them identifying with a particular party. In addition, belonging to a certain party can also have a direct impact on an individual's beliefs and values the more they participate in it. These effects illustrate how such variables are related to and in some cases are dependent on each other, presenting the concept of endogeneity. This relationship can therefore further affect greater political systems as well by interacting with other variables that contribute to party affiliation or one's identity.

References Benaim, A. (Director). (2021). Plaza Catedral. [Film]. Apertura Films Chandra, K. (2001). Cumulative findings in the study of ethnic politics. APSA-CP, 12(1), 7-11. Chandra, K. (2007). Why ethnic parties succeed: Patronage and ethnic head counts in India. Cambridge University Press. Janusz, A. (2021). Electoral incentives and elite racial identification: Why Brazilian politicians change their race. Electoral Studies, 72, 102340. Lee, T. (2008). Race, immigration, and the identity-to-politics link. Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci., 11, 457-478.