Why is ethnicity political, and if it is, what kind of
politics is it? Introduction to Instrumentalism
Abner Cohen: ethnicity… “operates within contemporary
political contexts and is not an archaic survival arrangement
carried over into the present by conservative people (1969: 190)
Abner Cohen: “ethnic groups are in an advantageous strategic
position, for it is difficult and costly for any state to suppress the
customs of a group in such respects as marriage and kinship,
friendship, ceremonial, and ritual beliefs and practices. And it is
these very customs that can readily serve as instruments for the
development of an informal political organization. Within the
new developing states, a grouping of this type is more stable and
more effective in achieving its aims than a formal association in
which loyalties derive only from contractual, interests” (1969: 3)