Glazer, Patterson and other present current views of ethnicity as divided into the primordial and the structural. The primordial view emphasizes ethnicity as basic to group identity, passed down from generation to generation. Greeley used the term ethnogenesis to explain the persistence of ethnic group identity among Whites. Ties that bind develop a group identity that goes beyond personal affection, practical necessity, and common interest. Van den Berghe using a sociobiological perspective, indicates that the propensity to favor kin and fellow ethnics is deeply rooted in the genes.
Ethnicity is both primordial and situationally instrumental.
The situational approach sees ethnic mobilization as essentially fluid, so that ethnic boundaries are drawn in the context of external stimuli. Bell explained the resurgence of ethnicity among Whites as a product of the new problems and new alignments brought about by advanced industrial societies. People seldom make decisions on the basis of ethnic allegiance, but rather on economic and general class interests. Hechter raises the question of whether ethnicity is a stronger means of identification than social class. Ethnic ties appear much stronger, although some authors write about the diminishing significance of race.