Identity Claims Research Articles

The Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) Identity Claims Dataset, 1946-2021

The Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) Identity Claims Dataset, 1946-2021

Claiming rock art, claiming indigeneity: Spaces and scales of recognition in Khoe and San identity claims

Based on research conducted in South Africa, this work revolves around the observation that certain rock art sites (Wildebeest Kuil, Northern Cape; Game Pass Shelter, KwaZulu-Natal) are utilized within identity and political frameworks—and a question: what role do rock art sites play in the construction of Khoe and San indigeneity? Contemporary indigeneity is closely linked to issues of recognition, which are themselves related to the restitution of rights, objects, and knowledge. Acknowledging the central role of objects in identity claims, this article proposes to analyze the place of these two rock art sites in the political construction of Khoe and San indigeneity. Based on a corpus of interviews, observations, legal texts, and press articles, certain uses of rock art sites will be presented as strategic means within a broader context of claims.

A cross‐cultural test of competing hypotheses about system justification using data from 42 nations

AbstractSystem justification theory (SJT) is a thriving field of research, wherein the primary questions revolve around why individuals and groups are motivated to see the systems they depend on as just, fair, and legitimate. This article seeks to answer how accurate the postulates of SJT are when compared to competing self‐interest claims of social identity and social dominance theory. We addressed the ongoing debates among proponents of each theory by identifying who, when, and why individuals decide to system‐justify. We used data comprised of 24,009 participants nested within 42 countries. Multilevel models largely supported the competing claims of social dominance and social identity theories over SJT. The most robust findings were: (1) greater objective socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with greater system justification; (2) the consistent positive relationship between subjective SES and system justification was partially mediated by life satisfaction; and (3) both ends of the political spectrum were willing to system‐justify more when the political party they favored was in power. The results presented are used to discuss both the current state and the future directions for system justification research.

Relational landscapes: environmental discourse and identity of the Sengwer community in Kenya

This article explores the intersection between landscape, worldview, African spiritualities and human-environment relations among the Sengwer ethnic community in Kenya. Documenting a range of indigenous knowledge expressions, the article examines narratives of landscape within the broader spectrum of environmental discourses and identity claims. It shows that among the Sengwer, cosmology and lifeworld are deeply intertwined, which recognises a multiplicity of sentient beings, only some of which are perceptible. The central figure bridging the seen and unseen worlds is the thunder deity Iilat, who shapes the moral code for the community. The Sengwer landscape not only provides them with food, medicine, water, honey, and shelter but also embodies their identity, history, memory, cultural and religious significance. Overall, the Sengwer identity is conceptualised as based on a relational knowledge that is a socially constructed process centring around the spiritual attachment to the landscape. This article therefore argues that the consideration of indigenous religious and spiritual knowledge sheds critical theoretical and practical light on African ecologies and human-environment relations. (This article is published in the thematic collection ‘African ecologies: the value and politics of indigenous knowledges’ edited by Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau and Abel Ugba .)

Identity Claims and the Legal Order: Secular or Religious?

Abstract The problem addressed in this article is the challenge that identity claims stemming from identity politics, commonly recognized as left liberalism, pose to the secularity of the modern legal order. The paper: (1) postulates human dignity as the highest value and assesses the potential of philosophy and law to find a balance among the conflicting demands posed by this value; (2) identifies constitutional principles and/or jus cogens as the basis for the identification and appraisal of identity claims; (3) describes major identity claims embodied in the Istanbul Convention and appraises them on the basis of the principles; (4) ascribes identity politics and its claims to a worldview with traits of a religion, termed culturalism, as their condition. The conclusion proposes alternative decisions (de lege ferenda) more in accord with the principles, most notably with the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Subjective Identity and the Right to be Forgotten: A Multifaceted Claim in the Legal System

Abstract In the complex relationship between individual identity and its claims for recognition and protection by the legal system, the right to be forgotten is crucial, because it addresses a personal, social and legal definition of the individual as authentically as possible and highlights the uniqueness of each identity, with changes experienced in the temporal dimension. The lack of distinction in real life between the physical world and the analogue context traces new spatial and temporal coordinates, able to profoundly redefine the traditional categories of identity and difference, as well as to modify the usual dynamics of personal and social inclusion and exclusion, submitting identity to a process of dismemberment that makes the individual a complex ‘informational organism’. The multiple connections between the right to be forgotten and the protection of personal identity are confirmed by the most recent developments of European legislation and, in particular, in Italian jurisprudence, which outlines it as an identity claim in order to obtain a correct representation of oneself, resulting in the guarantee offered by the legal system of reconfiguring one’s telematic image. This describes an evolving and comprehensive right capable of protecting the originality of the individual and his/her representation and relationships.

The Nomos of the Water: Indigenous Narrative Identity Claims to Justify Granting Legal Personhood to a River

Abstract This article, anchored in Indigenous narratives, identifies the core arguments for granting juridical personhood to rivers and appointing Indigenous citizens as their legal guardians. The core arguments are as follows: for Indigenous peoples, dwelling on riverbanks is a matter of identity. This identity manifests itself through various interpersonal practices, including language – thus, narratives – and caring. The analysis of sampled narratives has uncovered valid rationales for granting legal personhood to rivers due to identities common for rivers and their dwellers, rivers’ specific capabilities, and their actantial features (rivers can act). Both legal personhood for rivers and Indigenous dwellers being in the role of their legal guardians are unique legal institutions to fulfil the critical interests and capabilities of rivers at a time when these fragile ecosystems are under threat. We illustrate this by using the Amazon and Oder rivers as examples and referring to the Yanomami’s and Olga Tokarczuk’s narrative accounts.

Exploring the Sequential Relationship of a Leader’s Collective Leadership Style and the Team’s Shared Leadership: The Moderating Role of Gender

In this study, we explore the relationship between a team’s shared leadership and a formal leader’s collective leadership style, and their joint impact on team performance. We draw upon identity theory to examine how shared leadership in the team influences formal leaders’ leadership identity claims. We also examine how a formal leader’s use of a collective leadership style facilitates the claiming and granting of leadership identities by other team members. We also draw on role congruity theory and the social categorization perspective to examine the moderating role of gender, a critical component of identity. Our findings suggest that there is a mutual relationship between the formal leader’s collective leadership style and the team’s shared leadership, and that they jointly influence team performance, but these effects are contingent on the formal leader’s gender and the gender composition of the team. This study addresses several calls in the leadership field for examining the more nuanced ways shared leadership and the actions of a formal leader may influence each other, as well as the contextual conditions in which shared leadership is enacted.

From ethnopolitical contention to constitutional recognition: understanding the Berber question dynamics in Algeria

ABSTRACT Berber question is a substantial component of an enduring identity crisis, in which Algerian authorities had been found entrapped since the very beginning of independence. This article examines the extent to which the escalation of this identity crisis may be explained either in colonial legacy terms, or as a result of Algerian authorities’ mismanagement of an exclusively identity-oriented claims widely recognized as legitimate. Although, the exploration of different stages – through which identity claims agenda had been set – made the point of controversial patterns; however, mismanagement pattern prevails as a sustaining factor of an ongoing crisis. Today, despite the constitutional recognition of the Berber dimension as an integral part of Algerian identity (via the constitutional amendment of 2016), dealing solely with the Berber heritage in its folkloric dimension, is what some militant forces within the Berber movement fear and other matters that have yet to be adequately resolved (e.g. the use of Tamazight as the language of instruction). This article surveys the developing situation of the Berber question and aims for a better understanding that will hopefully help determine the future of the Berber question in Algeria.

How K-pop Fans Utilize Conventional and Subcultural Frameworks to Construct Fan Identities: A Case Study of Seungri and the Burning Sun Scandal

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine how fans on social media platforms manage their identities when faced with moral dilemmas in which their self-images and parasocial relations with idols are jeopardized. In particular, we explore how fans use social identification and deviant labeling as strategies to position themselves as distinct but not deviant cultural consumers. We choose a particular case of stigmatization within the Korean pop culture context – the Burning Sun Scandal involving Korean idol Seungri – to demonstrate this process. Drawing on concepts from social identity, subcultures, and deviance scholarship, we show how fans involved in discussions about the Burning Sun scandal explicitly linked themselves to conventional and/or subcultural moral and behavioral norms, while altercasting fans who expressed differing opinions regarding the idol’s guilt versus innocence. Through the analysis of fans’ identity claims, this study provides insights into how fans manage positive self-identification against a backdrop of media discourses in which the moral reputations of celebrity idols are called into question.

Identity and the New Rhetorics of Contention: The Vanniyar Mobilisation in Tamil Nadu in the 1980s

The Vanniyar caste became an important political player in Tamil Nadu in the 1980s, a decade widely acknowledged as a crucial and interesting decade in Indian politics in general and Tamil politics in particular. The Vanniyar caste mobilisation that re-emerged in this period indicates the changes in articulation that are important to our understanding of caste politics and social movements. This article highlights the process by which Vanniyar mobilisation initially emerged to represent caste concerns and later negotiated electoral politics. This process involved going beyond caste concerns and the inclusion of issues related to language, ethnicity, concerns of backward classes, and Tamil ‘common masses.’ The article maps the dynamics in the trajectory of Vanniyar mobilisation in the 1980s by bringing to light the shifts in concerns and identity claims. It thereby points to the nature of caste mobilisation in contemporary times, particularly within the larger context of an anti-caste initiative in the form of the Dravidian movement/politics.

Competitive Words: Identity Counts in Large Amounts

This essay argues that central assumptions underlying identity politics in literary writing—inclusion, visibility, diversity—are progressive in character. Yet in conditions of social precarity, literary writing and especially literary discussions that derive progressive potential from identity claims involuntarily and inevitably act under the aegis of neoliberal progressivism (as critiqued by Nancy Fraser and many others). Caution about identity politics (rather than its outright rejection) is a necessary minimum in response to the corruption inherent in the systemic placement of literature. When literary discussions, and this does not just mean scholarly research but also literary critique, book presentations and discussions in different reading groups and book clubs, fall short of this critical minimum, they risk missing that common and universal feature of the general intellect upon which revolutionary ideas of emancipation and solidarity once rested. Following Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen's study of the imperial mode of living, this essay examines the phenomenon of what I call 'literary identity politics'—namely the implementation of identity politics in and through literary writing—in terms of the interval between literature's efforts to right the wrongs of exclusion and its simultaneous entanglement in the system of global injustice.

Similar or different? An analysis of the organisational values expressed by public and private Turkish universities

AbstractDespite the fact that organisational values play a pivotal role within organisations and allow for a broad differentiation between universities, little is known about the organisational values universities select to pursue, and the factors impacting the selection of specific values. Therefore, we aim in this study to explore what type of organisational values universities express in their identity claims, and whether the institutional control (public vs private) affects value selection. We analysed the mission statements (i.e., identity narratives) of 169 Turkish universities using an a priori coding approach. The results indicate that public and private universities express similar value profiles and address different pressures from stakeholders by communicating a hybrid set of values.

Indonesia's Diplomacy Towards the Free Papua Organization (OPM)

Para diplomacy is conducted by a sub-nation entity, such as the Free Papua Organization (OPM), a representative of groups within the state to gain independence. Indonesia has had long negotiation experience with separatist groups, such as the Republic of South Maluku (RMS), pro-independence in East Timor (Fretilin), and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Indonesia's diplomacy with the three movements has succeeded in solving the problem with various peace agreements. Since 1967, with the signing of the referendum, Indonesia still had to resolve various issues that led to the demand for independence. This paper analyzes Indonesia's diplomacy towards OPM by implementing SWAA instruments, namely Strength, Weakness, Advocacy and Adversary, in bilateral and multilateral context. Based on para diplomacy’s main objectives to reinforce identity claims, build and assert claims through actions to influence the international community, the analysis is focused on Indonesian efforts to weaken claims. The purpose of the study is to determine the supporting factors or challenges of OPM’s para diplomacy. The study would become a reference to the government and decision makers while from a theoretical aspect, would enrich understanding of para diplomacy. Hopefully that the study could support the Indonesian vision to maintain state sovereignty and integrity.

The Subject of Black Subjectivity

Abstract In multiple essays, CLR James lays out what a theory of subjectivity must account for to resolve issues stemming from reducing subjectivity to a singular identity. Most proposals for a theory of subjectivity do so by making the subject the object of another’s propositions or claims about the world. I argue that this is an identity claim. The converse of this process is also true, that the subject who claims another as the object of their proposition must also be the object of a proposition themselves, leaving the capacity to form these expressions untouched. In Black Cultural studies, there has been a lot of attention paid to the capacity for one to become the object of their own propositions due to the conception that Black identity overdetermines Black subjects’ expressions prior to their articulation. Our reorientation to the study of subjectivity posits an entity whose operation functions to mobilise as well as implement identity claims. Subjectivity is a capacity while identity becomes the object of that capacity, an object shared between subjects that are known by becoming the object of propositions regarding the world, including their own. This essay attempts to resolve the conflicts that arise once the mistake of conflating subjectivity with identity claims is made and proposes a model whereby the concept of Black subjectivity can be explained.

Ethnicity and Madheshi Sub-National Identity in Nepal

The 2015 Constitution defines Nepal as a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country but not a multi-national; however, historically, two powerful ethnic groups with potential sub-national characters have been contesting each other under the native versus immigrant dyad. The alleged immigrants, namely the Madheshis, and the self-claimed native settlers, to name the Pahadis, both assert their distinct ethnic and linguistic identity enriched with sub-national strength. As a result, the Madheshis question the legitimacy of the civic form of nationalism promoted by the Pahadi ruling elites under ‘Nepali’ monocultural framework, thereby demanding that their sub-national character be recognised, whereas the Pahadis aim to assimilate the Madheshis under the civic form of nationalist framework that they have been promoting for a long. The face-off between these two groups has impacted national ethnopolitics and everyday relations since the 2007 Madheshi uprising. On this backdrop, this article, based on secondary sources, inquires how strong the Madheshis’ claim of sub-national identity is in relation to the larger framework of Nepali national identity structured by Pahadi norms and values.

How Elites Mobilize the Vernacular: A Case Study of Australian Prime Ministers' Use of ‘Fair Go’ Rhetoric

Abstract Prime ministers often use vernacularisms in their political rhetoric, but we know little about how they deploy these forms of speech and the consequences for politics and policy. This article extends work on the ‘rhetorical PM’ by focusing on how leaders deploy idiomatic expressions in their oratory. The article presents a thematic analysis of four successive Australian prime ministers' use of the country's distinctive ‘fair go’ expression in speeches and media interviews between 1972 and 1996. Australian PMs increasingly invoked the ‘fair go’ expression throughout this period for multiple rhetorical purposes, including to make national identity claims, engage in partisan competition and justify policy reforms with strong neoliberal elements. While prevailing scholarship sees ‘vernacular politics’ as a tool of grassroots actors opposing discourses of globalization and elite-driven reform, this research shows the vernacular is a versatile rhetorical tool mobilized by elites for multiple purposes, including to justify radical policy change.

Verfassungs- und Gesetzesvorschriften über die Sprachenregelung im rumänischen Staat während der Zwischenkriegszeit

Language regulations in interwar Romania were affected by the antinomy between their political and legal (especially constitutional) architecture, devised along Western models, and the concrete political circumstances, in a polity whose aims were defined by the ethno-cultural and linguistic character of national community supportive of the state. The perception of the alterity of the new ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities—now accounting for a significant part of the total population—occurred through the lens of two conceptual paradigms, both of them ultimately striving to promote uniformity. On the one hand, the “nation state” character of interwar Romania entailed, at least implicitly, an advancement of the economic, social and professional status of the nation supportive of the state, to the disadvantage of the national minorities. The identity claims of the latter may well be accepted, but in exchange for relinquishing the right to participate in decision-making on major political issues, concerning the state as a whole. On the other hand, the state-centered legal thinking in constitutional and administrative law—adopted under French influence—was an instrument well-suited for promoting and achieving the desired cultural uniformity. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the Western legal and political paradigm identifying the state with the (political) nation—which formally coined the Versailles Treaty system—and the Central-European (mainly Austrian) pattern of thought, more sensitive to linguistic diversity, was discernable also at the level of the minority treaties.

Being Bhil: The politics of becoming indigenous in India and Pakistan

ABSTRACT This article, based on ethnographic fieldwork and archival data, examines the limits of indigeneity and the role of the nation state in unintentionally fostering or discouraging identity formations of certain kinds. It focuses on Bhils, the largest ‘tribal’ group in South Asia with a population of around 17 million, to ask why they are seen as ‘indigenous’ in India though not in Pakistan. It shows how the colonial category of ‘tribes’ for the Bhils has been sustained and strengthened in postcolonial India due to institutional and bureaucratic practices, vernacular publications, upper-caste and transnational activism while a different set of actions by the state of Pakistan have resulted in absence of such ‘regimes of discipline.’ This divergent scenario is contrasted with a field view of the rural countryside by describing the complexity of self-identity and claims-making of the Bhils around the Narmada Valley, India and Tharparkar, Sindh province, Pakistan. The identity claims of the Bhils in both the countries, ranging from Kshatriya (upper-caste warriors) to Dalits (formerly ‘untouchable’ castes) show striking similarities, though also differ at times and is mostly at odds with the global indigeneity discourse and the administrative categories.

Organizational authenticity: How craft‐based ventures manage authentic identities and audience appeal

AbstractResearch SummaryCommercial success in craft‐based industries requires projecting authentic identities but direct claims of authenticity can backfire and raise suspicions of pecuniary motivation, an antithesis to authenticity. Managing authentic identities is thus central to the success of craft‐based ventures. We argue that organizations can shape their audience's perceptions of authenticity and appeal by tacitly and indirectly conveying a resonant identity meaning with visibility and credibility. Our empirical analysis, set in the US craft beer industry, reveals strong support for the idea that craft ventures can raise authenticity and appeal through managing the content/meaning, visibility, and credibility of their identity claims. We discuss the implications of our theory and findings for the role of organizations in the social construction of authenticity and appeal.Managerial SummaryManagers of craft ventures in identity‐driven markets face a strategic challenge in managing growth—how to maintain the authentic identity of their firm as its scale of operations expands. In modern‐day craft industries, consumers covet offerings from firms that they deem authentic but overt claims of authenticity by producers are ineffective. Our study of the craft beer market suggests that managers can leverage strategic assets like organizational resources (ownership structure), capabilities (investment in technology and product variety) and position (third‐party endorsements) to effectively communicate their firm's identity meaning with credibility and visibility. This holds significant practical implications for how managers can successfully navigate the growth process and their firms can continue to be viewed as authentic craft producers even as they increasingly benefit from scale.