Collective Identity Formation Research Articles

Structuring multi-dimensional collective identity in clusters

The paper explores the discursive formation of supra-organizational collective identities. Adopting a field-level approach, we expound how the meaning-making activity on collective identities is embedded in a broader discourse and is in turn articulated on a number of different dimensions. Additionally, we analyze how different field actors have a specific role in structuring each of these dimensions. Empirically, the paper is built upon textual data regarding the Brazilian wine-making cluster of the “Serra Gaúcha” region that offers a convenient setting to explore the formation of a collective identity, which is there perceived as a hot issue at stake by different field actors. Our main contribution is that the collective identity of fields and industries can emerge as the result of a distributed discourse, and not just as an interplay between identity promoters (internal field actors) and identity validators (external audiences). In this more complex discursive interplay between multiple actors, professional associations may assume a pivotal role thanks to their interest in boundary demarcation that results in efforts to formalize the collective identity.

Emotions and embodiment as feminist practice in the free abortion movement in France (1972–1984)

This article explores the critical role of emotions and bodies in the individual dynamics of engagement as well as the construction of collective identities and action in women’s groups in the 1970s in France. Much literature on emotion work in feminist organizations has tended to discuss emotions stemming from women’s dominant socialization processes as, above all, alienating, thereby as barriers to their activism. The Movement for the liberty of abortion and birth control offers essential insights into how gendered dispositions can be primary determinants of feminist collective identity formation, and even spur innovative protest practices. With their specific organizational settings and action, some ‘dissident MLACs’ in Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Lyon and Paris – those which continued to practice abortion despite its legalization and in defiance of the 1975 law which forbade them to do so – mobilized reciprocal emotions and bodily experiences to sustain engagement and serve a political project. Drawing on a wide array of biographical interviews and archival sources centred on abortion practices, the article examines the distinctive emotion culture these groups constructed. Its anchoring in bodies, commitment to emotions like tenderness and compassion, but also domestic and relational skills consecrated a gendered repertoire of action which therefore notably appealed to women whose social properties did not predispose them to collective action.

Art Museums and Exclusionary Visions of Nationhood: The Possibilities for Docent Training

ABSTRACT Art museums around the world play an integral role in the formation and preservation of collective identity and national belonging. As part of wider efforts for social change, these institutions are being challenged to decolonize and confront racism with renewed and sustained focus. As such, they are thinking more deeply about how they engage visitors with their collections. Within this context, this article considers how docents are uniquely positioned in the collective response to these calls for action. Drawing on strategies used in museum and teacher education pedagogy, it offers a renewed approach that emphasizes docent training’s capacity to create meaningful experiences that dismantle exclusionary national narratives operating within collections and exhibitions. This article responds to calls for art museums to multiply voices and become spaces for decolonization, and will resonate with other museums, galleries, and heritage institutions invested in ongoing critical learning amongst volunteer and professional educators alike.

Use of Meta-narrative Review to Integrate Perspectives on Identity Formation in the Cameroonian and Swedish-Kurdish Diasporas.

Post-colonial Cameroonian identities have emerged from a combination of systems involving indigenous knowledges, transnational, socio-political, and economic influences, contributing to back-and-forth identity formation in the diaspora and country-of-origin. Kin and kith bonds, social validation, and the maintenance of traditional values between members of the diaspora and relatives in Cameroon influence both individual and collective identity formation in diasporic communities. I argue that the affective communicative properties of socio-culturally and nostalgically relevant music may facilitate not only individual identity formation in the Cameroonian diaspora, but also collective identity formations between members of the Cameroonian diaspora and Cameroon itself through the mechanism of empathy. To accomplish this, I employ the use of meta-narrative review to integrate discussions from cultural studies, social anthropology, sociology, musicology, neuroscience and psychology. Cameroonian diasporic communities discussed in this paper include the Norwegian-Cameroonian and German-Cameroonian diasporas, with comparative discussion offered from the perspective of the Swedish-Kurdish diaspora. This study is intended to exemplify an exploration of how transdisciplinary integration can highlight the value of the affective communicative properties of socio-culturally and nostalgically relevant music as means to facilitate identity formation within and across diasporic communities through the mechanism of empathy.

Ideological Identifying as a Determiner of the Polish People Political Collective Identity

The aim of the article is to examine whether and to what extent a socio-political division into left- and right-wing is a factor that significantly influences the formation of the Polish political collective identity. The author of the article attempted to present the leftist and rightist identities in relation to defining characteristics of collective identity. Then, a theoretical model was empirically verified based on the findings of the author’s own research conducted in 2019.

State identity narratives and threat construction in the Horn of Africa: revisiting Ethiopia's 2006 intervention in Somalia

ABSTRACT The Ethiopian military intervention to remove the Union of Islamic Courts from Mogadishu in December 2006 has been interpreted in overlapping narratives of historical-religious conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, proxy war with Eritrea, and counter-terrorism. This article adds another: the Ethiopian government's own dominant narrative of danger at the time. Based on a discourse analysis of materials generated during a year of fieldwork in Addis Ababa, the article explores how Ethiopia's political leadership constructed developments in Somalia as an existential threat to the Ethiopian state. It argues that the language and actions of specific actors were presented as threatening the idea of the post-1991 Ethiopian state and, more specifically, the foundational narrative with which the EPRDF-led Ethiopian government sought ontological security for Ethiopia as a distinct political community and international actor. By focusing on the relationship between processes of collective identity formation and perceptions of (in)security, this article highlights the role of state identity narratives for understanding evolving threat perceptions and their political implications in the Horn of Africa.

Religion, Conflict and Identity: Islam, Pakistani identity and the conflict in Swat

Other than an identity in itself, religion plays a central role in other forms of collective identities, like ethnic and national. Moreover, as the constructivist theoretical position argues that identities are fluid and can be impacted by different factors, we propose that conflict and violence have repercussions for religion and the associated identities. Extending the constructivist theoretical position, we contend that conflicts do not ‘soften’ or ‘harden’ identities, rather its impacts are complex, multiple and significant. In the backdrop of recent conflict and violence in Pukhtun region of Swat, Islam is substantial due to its centrality to Pakistani national identity (represented and promoted by the Pakistani state) and Pukhtun ethnic identity (represented by the Pukhtuns in Swat) and militant discourse in the region. This study argues that, amidst the conflict in Swat, three forms and positions of Islam have emerged, including the Islam adopted by Pukhtuns as marker of their identity, Islam used by Pakistan for framing a national identity and the one promoted, rather imposed, by the militants. Pukhtuns in Swat try to detach and distance their ‘form’ of Islam (having both symbolic and practical aspects) from that of the Pakistani state and the militants. Moreover, Pukhtun’s form of Islam is considered closer to that of the state with a sharp distance from that of the militants. Pakistani state, religious clergy and militants are blamed and criticized for using Islam for their interests. Militant’s Islam is termed ‘violent’ and only based on their form of justice and is thus rejected. Pakistani state’s Islam is considered least practiced and more symbolic and thus disowned. Islam adopted and practiced by Pukhtuns, majority, in Swat is considered as peaceful and in practice and thus assumed to be better than the other contesting forms of Islam. Thus, the conflict in Swat, involving militants and Pakistani state, has complicated the divisive role of Islam in relation to its unifying role as a component and marker of Pakistani national identity. This has repercussions for Pakistani national identity. The study is based on 45 open-ended in-depth interviews and five focus group discussions in diverse parts of Swat, coupled with ethnographic observation.

Коллективная память молодёжи в эпоху коммемораций

The lack of consensus in society on the most important problems of history negatively affects the formation of the collective memory of the younger generation. The socialization of millennials (in the terms of N. Howe and W. Strauss) has specific features that become the main tool for the formation of a new collective identity. The purpose of this article is to reveal the features of the collective memory of student youth on the example of the perception of the events of the Great Patriotic War (WWII) in the conditions of a super-tolerant postmodern society. The following concepts were chosen as the methodological basis of the research: social construction (P. Berger, T. Luckmann), the concept of collective memory (M. Halbwachs, P. Nora, A. Assman), as well as the poststructuralist direction of postmodernism (Z. Bauman, J. Baudrillard). The empirical base of the study was formed by the results of a large-scale research project of the Russian Society of Sociologists "Russian Students on the Great Patriotic War". To study the peculiarities of young people's perception of the events of the war years, problematic issues, actualized by modern socio-political processes, were selected. The novelty of the results was predetermined by the identification of young people's opinions about controversial issues of history and about the modern portrait of a patriot. The results obtained during the research may be of interest to researchers studying youth problems.

Power and ‘Sacral Rulers’ in Pre-Christian Scandinavia: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Dynamics

This paper considers the intricate relationship between religious and political power in pre-Christian Scandinavia. Drawing on power theory and aspects of power legitimation in cultural memory theory, it identifies and discusses a blind spot in the current research debate on the religious aspects of rulership. It argues that the ‘top-down’ perspective that currently dominates research on this topic needs a complementary ‘bottom-up’ perspective. Only then can we reach a more nuanced understanding of the power mechanisms surrounding the religious aspects of rulership. With a theoretical discussion of the social and ontological bases of political power, this paper argues that the religious dimensions of rulership were rooted in underlying (socially constructed) assumptions about the nature of reality, which were shared by rulers and subjects. On this basis, this paper proceeds to discuss the figure of the ruler in the context of the community’s formation of collective identity. It proposes that the ruler served as a focal point for the community’s cultivation of a shared past, a process that underpinned a sense of a collective self and of the community’s durability across generations. Ruler genealogies are highlighted as instrumental to this process, and a new, tentative reading of Ynglingatal is proposed.

A review paper on women empowerment in professional and domestic life

Feminism has grown considerably as a transdisciplinary voice in support of change, as well as a discipline of science and philosophy, during the last 40 years. Advocacy and philosophy seem to have dominated the development of theory. Proposals are made to further feminist thinking. This book presents a feminist public relations theory, as well as an explanation and agenda for changing bias towards female public relations practitioners. This research emphasizes the importance of the social, historical, and political context from the viewpoint of women's empowerment theory as a cyclical rather than a linear process in components of women's empowerment. It proposes that empowerment-driven feminist social work practice be guided by an awareness of positionalities, conscientization, and social changes, integrating key concepts in feminist thought and empowerment theory. In this study, the key characteristics of women's equality in general and in the workplace are addressed. Feminist and empowerment philosophy has a lot in common with the development and identification of professional identity and social work in general. Individual and collective identity formation are both emphasized in social and gender inequality and prejudice. Empowerment is a big part of feminist social work's theory and practice, particularly when it comes to dominance and subordination.

From Clubs to Concert Halls: The Influence of Performance Venue on Collective Identity Formation in Jazz

From Clubs to Concert Halls: The Influence of Performance Venue on Collective Identity Formation in Jazz

¿“Ellos” o “nosotros”? prejuicios y estereotipos sobre los musulmanes en el alumnado preadolescente

The objectives of this work are to analyse the presence of prejudices and stereotypes about Muslims in a group of 6th grade primary school students and to reflect on the importance of detecting, thinking about and combating them, due to their influence on the formation of personal and collective identity from the perspective of the teaching of history. Using a mixed research methodology, the attitudes and opinions of a sample of 107 students, both Muslim and non-Muslim, from two schools in the Canary Islands are collected. The research instrument, developed for this investigation, is a questionnaire with 11 items with a Likert-type assessment scale, which have been analysed with Excel, and an open question which has been categorised and allowed for triangulation The results show a relative presence of prejudices and negative stereotypes among this student body, perhaps due to the historical and social context associated with the sample. These are linked to the generalisation and confusion of terms and meanings, which are present and transmitted by the media and historical education, intervening in the shaping of personal and collective identity.

СОВРЕМЕННОЕ ОБОСНОВАНИЕ ИСПАНСКОЙ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОЙ ИДЕИ «ЕSPAÑOLIDAD» И ПРОБЛЕМА ИСПАНСКИХ ИСТОРИЧЕСКИХ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОСТЕЙ

The main particularity of the Spanish civic collective identity is that its doctrine, Espanolidad, was initially formulated as theocratic, proclaiming the unity of the Spanish nation under the aegis of the Spanish Empire. However, after the Spanish War of Independence of 1808-1814, Espanolidad became the banner of opposite political forces: conservative on the one hand and liberal on the other. Espanolidad as the basic factor of the formation of the Spanish civic collective identity in the course of the 19th century favored Castelano-centrismo, which consisted in the centralization of the Spanish economy around Madrid and in the cultural Castilization of the Spanish state, the principal mechanism of which was the universal introduction of the Castilian language. Basque and Catalan regional nationalists being partial towards Castelanocentrismo considered the federalization of the Spanish state as an alternative to it already at the beginning of the 20th century. Conservative elements of Espanolidad received their distinct shape in the Francoist cultural doctrine of Nacionalcatolicismo, which had to justify the Spanish monoethnic state resting on the Christian unity. The Spanish “transition to democracy” is the transformation of the Francoist monoethnic state into the Spanish State of Autonomous Communities. Nevertheless, the rejection of Nacionalcatolicismo, symbolized by the slogan Spain is difference, put the unity of the Spanish nation into question and led to the intensification of regional separatist movements (Catalan and Basque). The criticism of the principle of ethnic nationalism, partly related to Nacionalcatolicismo, fostered the adoption of Constitutional Patriotism as the dominant Spanish cultural strategy. While postulating unity in variety, Constitutional Patriotism gives new breath to the old Espanolidad asserting national unity through the State of Autonomous Communities. The equal legal status of Spanish regions resting on the principles of solidarity and economic utility is upheld by the leveling of the inequalities of economic development between the rich and the poor autonomous communities.

ПАМЯТЬ И НАСЛЕДИЕ В «КРЕСТОВОМ ПОХОДЕ» ПРОТИВ ИСТОРИИ, ИЛИ РОЖДЕНИЕ «МЕМОРИАЛЬНОЙ ПАРАДИГМЫ»

The turn of the 20th–21st centuries was marked by the emergence in modern historiography of the “memorial paradigm”, which explores the images of the past as interpretive models that allow individuals and social groups to orient themselves in their present life situations. As a result, the focus of attention of the professional community representatives turned out to be on issues related to the relationship between history, memory and identity, with the use of cultural heritage, with the tools of “historical policy” and the transformation of historical consciousness and historical culture of post-industrial society. In the Russian social and humanitarian space, interdisciplinary memorial and historical research focused on describing and analyzing socially and culturally differentiated symbolic “images of the past”, mechanisms for the formation of individual and collective identities or effective tools of historical politics, have gained great popularity in the recent decade. The article presents and analyzes various positions of leading theorists regarding the situation that has developed as a result of the “memorial boom” in the space of the current humanities. Stating the advantages and achievements of “memory studies”, the author notes a number of missed opportunities, in particular the need for an expanded socio-historical contextualization of specific studies and a clearer definition of one’s own cognitive attitudes in relations with public history and commemorative practices. The conceptual problems of “memory studies” that have arisen in connection with the inclusion in their subject fields of the practice of intercultural communication in their historical dimension are considered. The article shows that the significant heuristic potential of the “memory paradigm” can be realized using theoretical models of histoire croisée and connected history.

Narratives, Policies and Governance Influence Development of Sustainable Human-Nature Relationship Systems in Central but Subtle Ways

As global attention increases to climate change, topics related to its causes, long-term effects, and associated issues grow in number and complexity. Once dominated by fossil fuels and alternatives to them, related discussions now include environmental justice and equity, cultural and environmental diversity, education, spiritual ecology, and complex systems to name a few. Rarely discussed is the critical, more basic, and less obvious role of Earth and culture’s co-evolution and the central part this plays in individual and collective human identity formation. The longitudinal study reported here revealed the importance of these foundational development processes and their consideration in efforts toward more just, resilient and sustainable futures. A globally familiar situation, the proposed construction of a hydropower plant in a largely untouched area of Iceland’s remote West Fjords, provided a material and internationally relevant focus for coordinated study of people and natural context and the meanings assigned in the course of their interaction. The findings strongly suggest that as we write laws, set policies, and create agreements at local, national and international levels, the processes of individual human development and earth-human co-evolution must receive focused consideration. Regulations and the types of relationships they support are important shapers of contexts that influence, in turn, personal, cultural and environmental directions and identities. Findings highlight also <i>Homo sapiens’</i> role, intentional or not, in the evolution of the species as we know it. Implications of the research extend from schooling to governance, economic policy, and the writing, interpretation and enforcement of laws. All are influenced by the stories we tell and meanings associated with them. Without that understanding and what it reveals about human-nature relationships, changes required for more durable and inclusive futures will be limited. Using methods of participatory research and ethnography, this research investigated human-nature relationships, how they develop and are interrupted in context, and the associated implications for addressing many issues surrounding climate change and its mitigation.

Cultural tourism: topical issues in the context of cultural and historical memory

The authors follow up the issues of cultural tourism in their relationship with cultural and historical heritage in the context of education of young people. The methods of cultural and historical analysis, forecasting, method of expert assessment, sociological methods are used at the article. Emphasizing the importance of cultural heritage in the globalizing world, the authors consider it as a factor of collective identity formation, which is important for national stability and safety ensuring. In the authors’ opinion the absolute demand for the preservation of cultural and natural heritage for future generation with awareness of not only economic but social benefit of its preservation should be the long-term strategy of modern cultural policy in the Russian Federation. They focus on objects of city architecture and the urban environment as triggers of cultural memory and territorial (local) identity. Based on the opinion poll data among first-year students of K. G. Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technologies and Management (FCU) the authors highlight the main issues of updating cultural and historical heritage as a means of young people education: the formation of young people’s interest in the history of the culture of their region and the country as a whole; providing of the assess to cultural values; education of careful attitude towards cultural and natural monuments, respect for the authenticity and diversity of cultural values of Russia and mankind; training in anti-vandal non-destructive behavior; involving in active participation of protection of cultural heritage monuments; popularization of tourism culture among the younger generation including the development of a training system for organizers of youth tourism (volunteers).

Identity Positionings in Squatters’ Framings of Don Quijote Social Centre

Studies on how to frame a political place render a broad perspective over identity making processes. Frames construct alternative realities based on the ideological culture (idioculture) of a movement and political place, and they position opposing and/or alternative identities within that place while setting the subject position of the narrator. This study deals with identity making within critical discursive psychology through the place frame of squatters who participated in Turkey’s most famous and recent (open between 2013-2015) urban political squatting incident at the Don Quijote Social Centre in Kadiköy, Istanbul. An analysis of 13 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the actual participants of the squat yields results which illuminate opposite identity positionings (between opposing positions of organized and unorganized/anti-political individuals) and contradicting place frames. Categorized under three argumentative repertoires (squat as an alternative, an orderly place, and a space with limited ideology), the findings reveal how political action and place are politicized by focusing on different place frames which the participants rhetorically make based on their subject positions. While people make use of the same repertoire and are part of the same movement, they make framings in an opposing way in order to position themselves and others into certain subject positions. In conclusion, the present study focuses on in-group relations and identity making in this commoning incident. In the conclusion, arguments like the novelty of these kinds of movement that fall under the category of New Social Movements, their genuine alternativeness, the topics they introduce to the political arena and other ways of collective identity formation are debated upon.

European unification as lived memory: Shared and diverse representations in textbooks of six countries

Concerned about a lack of legitimacy, European Union (EU) institutions have increasingly engaged in memory politics to enhance European identity. Yet, memory of the EU is still closely connected to the collective identity formation of nation‐states, especially in the field of education, the focus of this study. Inspired by this dilemma, the present paper examines the representations of European unification in textbooks of six countries: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, and Estonia. By focusing on countries on the margins of Europe, the present study explores shared and diverse narratives of the European unification process and asks whether or not a shared historical charter of European unification exists. All together 86 history textbooks used in upper secondary school were analysed by adopting a three‐step multi‐method approach. The results suggest that the representation of European unification is more diverse than it is homogenous. It can be narrated as a political value community or as a community based on utilitarian interests, or it can be represented from a unified European or from a more national perspective. Exploring representations of European unification is crucial to understanding how they can be used as legitimizing charters to navigate through the European challenges of the 21st century.

Upvoting extremism: Collective identity formation and the extreme right on Reddit

Since the advent of the Internet, right-wing extremists and those who subscribe to extreme right views have exploited online platforms to build a collective identity among the like-minded. Research in this area has largely focused on extremists’ use of websites, forums, and mainstream social media sites, but overlooked in this research has been an exploration of the popular social news aggregation site Reddit. The current study explores the role of Reddit’s unique voting algorithm in facilitating “othering” discourse and, by extension, collective identity formation among members of a notoriously hateful subreddit community, r/The_Donald. The results of the thematic analysis indicate that those who post extreme-right content on r/The_Donald use Reddit’s voting algorithm as a tool to mobilize like-minded members by promoting extreme discourses against two prominent out-groups: Muslims and the Left. Overall, r/The_Donald’s “sense of community” facilitates identity work among its members by creating an environment wherein extreme right views are continuously validated.

Looking for their voice: the formation of identity in the new Israeli principals’ organisation

ABSTRACT Based on an in-depth analysis of newspaper articles and internal documents, in this article I examine the formation of a new collective and glocal identity for the Israeli principals’ organisation, Manhigim, which was established in October 2018. I show how, in the process of establishing the organisation, the leaders formed a collective glocal identity comprised of three distinct identities, namely a labour union identity, a professional identity, and a political identity. These identities respond to the question, ‘Who are we?’ As such, they have relationships to the past, present, and expected future. Each one of the identities is glocally constructed; that is, it is influenced by global norms and values, but also by local problems and concerns. My findings suggest that, by stressing the global values of autonomy, trust, and partnership, the organisation’s leaders facilitated an interesting reformulation of the principals’ professional identities. Moreover, they positioned the organisation as the most knowledgeable and important actor in the Israeli educational field. As such, the glocal identity legitimises the primacy and acceptance of the new principals’ organisation as an integral part of the system of Israeli education policymakers.