Hidden Members: Variation in Ethnic Visibility

Abstract This chapter develops the concept of ethnic visibility, both theoretically and empirically. The chapter first presents a theoretical discussion of ethnic visibility within the context of existing scholarship and proposes a conceptualization of ethnic visibility at the individual-level that includes both ethnic signs and ethnic signals. The chapter next introduces a multifaceted measure of ethnic visibility at the individual level. Drawing on original survey and qualitative data, the chapter then demonstrates that there is significant variation in ethnic visibility among Lhomwes in Malawi, and explores why some individuals are more visible than others. Finally, the chapter proposes a group-level proxy for ethnic visibility that demonstrates significant variation in visibility across African ethnic groups. Taken together, the evidence in this chapter underscores that we cannot assume that ethnic identities are universally visible.