Although most people, including Europe’s Muslims, have numerous identities, few of these are politically salient at any moment. It is only when a political issue affects the welfare of those in a particular group that _________________________. For instance, when issues arise that touch on women’s rights, women start to think of gender as their principal identity. Whether such women are American or Iranian or whether they are Catholic or Protestant matters less than the fact that they are women. Similarly, when famine and civil war threaten people in sub-Saharan Africa, many African-Americans are reminded of their kinship with the continent in which their ancestors originated centuries earlier, and they lobby their leaders to provide humanitarian relief. In other words, each issue calls forth somewhat different identities that help explain the political preferences people have regarding those issues.
* salient: 두드러진