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Race and non-electoral political participation in Brazil, South Africa, and the United States
[journal article]
Abstract This paper examines the context-dependent role of race as a predictor of non-electoral political participation. Prior country-level studies have documented group-level differences in a variety of forms of participation in South Africa and the United States, but have found few to no differences in Br... view more
This paper examines the context-dependent role of race as a predictor of non-electoral political participation. Prior country-level studies have documented group-level differences in a variety of forms of participation in South Africa and the United States, but have found few to no differences in Brazil. Why are members of one group more engaged in certain political activities than members of other groups only in specific contexts? Why do members of socioeconomically deprived groups, such as non-Whites, participate more than better-off groups in acts that require group mobilization in South Africa and the United States but not in Brazil? Results from the World Values Survey and the International Social Survey Programme show that Blacks and Coloureds in South Africa and Blacks in the United States participate more than Whites in activities that demand prior organization and mobilization, whereas group differences are negligible in Brazil. I argue that (1) race as a driver of political mobilization is conditional on the existence of politicized racial identities; (2) members of groups that share a strong collective identity participate in direct political action more than predicted by their socioeconomic background; (3) politicization of identities is the product of racial projects that deploy the state apparatus to enforce group boundaries for the implementation of segregationist policies as well as the reactions against them; and (4) by enforcing group boundaries, those systems unintentionally create the conditions for the formation of politicized group identities. In the absence of such requisites, political mobilization along racial lines would be weak or nonexistent.... view less
Keywords
United States of America; Brazil; Republic of South Africa; political participation; race; ISSP; socioeconomic factors; deprivation
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
International Social Survey Programme: Citizenship - ISSP 2004 (ZA3950 v1.3.01)
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 1-32
Journal
Journal of race, ethnicity and politics (2021)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2021.29
ISSN
2056-6085
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed