Answer to Question 1
Two aspects of the social context are particularly important for explaining the politicization of identity.
First, long-term social, economic, or technological change can politicize identity. Marx correctly noted that industrialization creates an urban working class, whose members may come to understand the political implications of their economic status differently from their ancestors who had worked the land. Rapid economic development can also dramatically alter how people perceive the proper roles for men and women inside and outside the home, thereby changing the nature of gender identities. Migration by large numbers of peopledue to environmental disaster, war, or economic developmentcan bring about competition for natural resources, which sometimes spurs the politicization of ethnic or religious differences and the spread of religions can politicize differences about morality and community ethics. Slow, long-term change in the social context shapes how individuals conceive of themselves and their community, which, in turn, influences the politicization of identity as whole.
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Second, identity can become politicized because someone or some group had an interest in that outcome. That is, constructivism suggests that identity can be politicized as a result of competition for political power. To establish authority or enhance their legitimacy, leaders attempt to articulate an appealing image of the community and its goals. Some politicians attempt to gain followers by highlighting differences between their group and otherssuch as divides based on race, religion, or differing ideologieswhile others attempt to articulate a vision that unifies everyone, for example by highlighting the commonalities that unite citizens of a particular nation. Constructivism highlights how efforts to acquire and hold onto power can politicize different forms of political identity.
Answer to Question 2
The three key reasons are as follows:
First, primordialism cannot explain the emergence of collective identity. To the extent that any form of identity emerged only relatively recently, it cannot explain what caused that form of identity to emerge in the first place.
Second, primordialism also cannot account for change in the meaning of different forms of identity, no matter how old. The political significance of ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, or other forms of identity are not timeless, regardless of whether people believe they are.
Finally, primordialism also ignores the possibility that individuals can and do chooseand sometimes changetheir own identities. While it is true that individuals develop powerful emotional and psychological attachments to identity groups early in life, they may also adopt new and different forms of identity later on.
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