Identity Politics Research Articles

Do in-group biases lead to overconfidence in performance? Experimental evidence

Is the phenomenon of people overestimating their skill relative to their peers (overplacement) exacerbated by group affiliation? Social identity theory predicts people evaluate in-group members more positively than out-group members, and we hypothesized that this differential treatment may result in greater overplacement when interacting with an out-group member. We tested this hypothesis with 301 US voters affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic party in the run-up to the 2020 Presidential election, a time when political identities were salient and highly polarized. We found there is a higher tendency for overplacement when faced with an out-group opponent than with an in-group opponent. Decomposition analysis suggests this difference is due to underestimating the opponent, as opposed to overestimating one’s own performance to a higher degree. Moreover, any tendency to incur in overplacement is mitigated when faced with an opponent with the same political identity relative to one with a neutral one. Group affiliation biases initial priors, but not how they are updated.

Wavering theocratic ideology and the politicization of Shia identity: Iran's ideological rifts amid geopolitical maneuvers

ABSTRACT This article examines Iran's internal identity conflicts and its strategy to expand Shia influence in the Middle East. Iran's growing confidence in its regional power stems from its perceived victory in the prolonged confrontation with the United States and the belief that its constructive role will soon gain recognition. However, Iran faces internal ideological rifts as the younger generation challenges the conservative regime, exemplified by recent hijab protests. Simultaneously, Iran has been fostering Shia militant groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen to project its influence and engage in shadow warfare against Israel and Saudi Arabia. The escalating Iran-Israel conflict and Iran's involvement in the Syrian civil war highlight its geopolitical maneuvers. The study argues that there is an interplay between Iran's internal politicized identity crises and its external power projection, as the regime seeks to consolidate its legitimacy by emphasizing anti-Western and anti-Israeli sentiments. However, this strategy faces a dilemma, as resources allocated to suppressing domestic dissent and maintaining regional influence may further strain Iran's economy and exacerbate internal instability. The changing regional dynamics, such as the U.S.—Iran nuclear deal and the Arab-Israeli normalization, also pose challenges to Iran's strategic calculus.

Investigating the Relationships Among HMP, Credibility, and TPP of News Media and Their Links to News Media Policy Support

Abstract Prior research has suggested that perceptions of bias, credibility, and influence of news media may relate to one another but there have been relatively few efforts to integrate these concepts under a coherent theoretical framework. Based on social identity theory, we examined whether political identity relates to hostile media perception (HMP), credibility, and third-person perception (TPP) and if such perceptions in tandem predict attitudes toward news media policies—restriction of news media and media literacy education, which may neutralize the influences of seemingly hostile and untrustworthy news media. Findings from two national online surveys showed that strong partisans tend to perceive stronger HMP and less credibility in news media. Additionally, progressives had greater HMP. HMP and TPP were positively associated with media restriction policy support and media literacy education support. Credibility showed negative associations with restrictive media policy support, whereas the opposite pattern was found in the relationship with media education support. Furthermore, the positive associations between HMP and media policy support were mediated by TPP. The negative associations between credibility and restrictive media policy support were also mediated by TPP.

Philippe d’Orléans, the Press and the Army: The Shaping of the Political Identity of Louis XIV’s Brother in the Gazette de France

This study delves into the shaping of the political identity of Philippe d’Orléans, Louis XIV’s brother, by investigating its official constructed image in the main French newspaper of the time and voice of the monarchy, the Gazette de France. It focuses on Philippe d’Orléans’s military activities and analyses the tensions between reality and official discourse. Considering the essentialisation of appearances characteristic of the court society, it argues that Monsieur’s depiction is complex and double-edged. On the one hand, Monsieur, due to his rank, occupies a central place in the Gazette and reinforces the magnificence of the monarchy. On the other hand, his presence in military news declines over time following his military exploits during the French-Dutch War (1672–1678). The article concludes that the representation of Monsieur was helpful in spreading a favourable image of the louisquatorzian regime by means of the depiction of family concord.

Simultaneous Politicization of Identities to Increase Candidates' Electability: A Case Study of the 2020 Regional Head Election of East Sumba Regency

Identity politicization became popular in areas of Indonesia after the 1998 reform. Political candidates use this practice to increase electability and acquire power in electoral political contestation. This condition also occurred at the 2020 Regional Head Election (Pilkada) in the East Sumba Regency. The study aims to investigate identity politicization in various forms and its impact on the 2020 Pilkada in the East Sumba Regency. This research used a qualitative method with a case study approach. The findings indicate politicized identities during the Pilkada, including candidates' religious and ethnic identities, areas of origin, social stratification, and government bureaucracy. An interesting finding in this study is the politicization of the various identities existing in society and was carried out simultaneously to gain voter support to increase the candidates' electability. The academic contribution of this research is to exploit the full potential of identity simultaneously, including kabihu identity, to respond to the candidates' practical political interests to gain power despite the impact on segregation and polarization in society and diluting Sumba cultural values. Furthermore, this study advises the government on how to improve the quality of future Pilkada.

Warriors of the City-State

This essay outlines how religious ideas and practices shaped the activism of Chin Wan, known as the “godfather of localism” in Hong Kong. While Chin's role in the rise of the localist wave of the 2010s is well known, his role as a religious figure has been completely ignored. As the earliest exponent of “valiant warrior” (yung mou 勇武) and “be water” militant tactics based on Confucian and Daoist narratives, he had a deep influence on Hong Kong protest culture during and after the Umbrella movement of 2014. This case undermines conventional secularist narratives of Hong Kong social movements and offers new insights into the politics of identity in Hong Kong.

The Idea of Sex Work

Abstract Focusing on the UK case, this essay explores how ideas and political practices around sex as work took root in a particular national space and shifted over time. Sex work helped to alter the political and social perception of sex traders, repudiating their marginality and positioning them in the mainstream of ordinary working lives. Beginning in the 1970s, political activists aligned the idea of sex as work with a defense of female practitioners as “ordinary” women doing ordinary women’s work. Sex work offered substantial rhetorical advantages for rights activists, who linked a work paradigm to practical demands for criminal justice reform and social and health initiatives. At the same time, the idea of sex as work provoked challenges inside and outside the ranks of sex traders. Antiviolence campaigners disputed that prostitution was a “job like any other” and competed with sex work projects for state resources and recognition. The discourse of sex work also occasioned some resistance within the ranks of sex traders, revealing disparate views about identity politics, the state and the market, and even what sex and work meant.

Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in Higher Education in England

ABSTRACT: This article considers the context, development, and significance of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 . The Act was relatively unusual in aiming to increase the normative strength of freedom of speech. The central justification given for the Act was the need to respond to an increasing number of interferences with free speech and academic freedom occurring at universities. The growth of a "cancel culture" was having a "chilling effect" on students, staff, and visiting speakers. The article examines a range of high-profile cases and incidents that have attracted political and media attention. Many of these have concerned contemporary debates related to trans issues and identity politics. The issues discussed in the article are of wider international interest. Similar controversies have been experienced in universities in other states. The article makes comparative reference to developments in the field in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The article examines the perceived issues and evidential bases for the Act, reviews the legal duties, and analyzes the key legal concepts. It considers these in terms of compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). It concludes by addressing three thematic issues: (i) a Model Code; (ii) challenging university ideologies; and (iii) securing cultural change.

The Utilisation of Identity and Heritage in Protests Against Police and Water Mergers in Orkney and Shetland, 1966–9

Between 1966 and 1969, Scotland’s police forces and water services were amalgamated into larger regional bodies. The mergers provoked significant protest in Orkney and Shetland, as the islands’ local authorities spearheaded unsuccessful campaigns to retain local control over police and water services. Largely neglected by historians, this article argues that the protests played a key role in mobilising the islands’ communities and local authorities against a perceived external threat to their social, economic, and political sustainability. Although the central arguments against amalgamations were based on geography and logistics, councillors and protesters utilised Orkney and Shetland’s distinct identity and heritage as rhetorical devices to oppose the proposals. Rather than literal displays of Norse nostalgia or Scandinavian affinity, this politicisation of identity offered strategic opportunities for maximising external attention towards the campaign. However, this element to the campaign also reflected sincere commitments to the principles of local control and self-sufficiency, fostering the development of distinct political identities in each archipelago. As a result, the anti-amalgamation protests can be considered an early manifestation of political regionalism in the Northern Isles and an important antecedent in understanding the emergence of autonomy movements in Orkney and Shetland in subsequent decades.

Just who wanted dominion home rule?: ‘moderates’ and the Irish War of Independence

AbstractThis article discusses political ‘moderates’, those individuals who reacted to the turmoil of the War of Independence by coalescing around a vision of a dominion of Ireland within the British Empire, with appropriate safeguards for minorities. It will consider how reformist gentry, parliamentary and former unionist elements came together to bring about their preferred settlement. Through statistical examination of the membership of the Irish Dominion League, the leading moderate movement, it will establish the political backgrounds, religion and social class of supporters, and demonstrate the various means by which moderates worked as intermediaries between British forces and the rebels. Southern unionists made efforts to avoid working with moderates and to retain a distinct political identity, and, ultimately, divisions within the movement, and the changing structure of Irish politics, inhibited the creation of an effective moderate party.

R/The_Donald Had a Forum: How Socialization in Far-Right Social Media Communities Shapes Identity and Spreads Extreme Rhetoric

Can engagement with far-right social media communities socialize users into a new political identity? This study addresses concerns about the spread of far-right groups on mainstream social media platforms by examining how newcomers are affected by their engagement with these groups. I theorize that changes in social identity expression indicative of socialization will be measurable in the language users use to express themselves on social media, and that the magnitude of this linguistic change will intensify with more frequent far-right engagement. I develop a custom dictionary of far-right-relevant terms sourced from communities like The Daily Stormer and Stormfront. Using an original dataset of Reddit user posting histories from 2015–2017, I test for increases in the frequency of this far-right vocabulary. I find that users who engage often with a far-right community like r/The_Donald begin to sound more like white nationalists within three months. Socialized users also use far-right vocabulary more frequently in other spaces on their platform, contributing to the spread and normalization of far-right rhetoric.

WHEN MAPPILA MEN SING AND DANCE: AN ANALYTICAL DISCUSSION ON PERFORMING ARTS OF MAPPILA MEN.

Muslims of Kerala state of the Indian republic are known as Mappilas. They have developed many unique cultural traits that are Indigenous in character, even though their culture has been influenced by Arabian tradition along with Malabar and Tamil culture. Mappilas were extraordinarily political and protested against Western powers like the Portuguese and British, which is why historians have extensively studied the Mappila community. They mostly looked at the aspects of the trade relationship with Mappilas, its impact on the community, and the protests of Mappilas against the colonial powers and feudal lords. But, Mappilas as a community in terms of identity is an outcome of many factors, including their political and cultural identities. The academic studies on Mappilas eschew the question of culture. Therefore, this study looks into one of the essential aspects of their culture: their performing arts. This study provides an analytical discussion on the performing arts of Mappila men, but focuses on one of the unique singing competitions known as Vattappaattu and the performing art called Kolkkali.

'Through the Flower': On Audre Lorde and Intersectionality

The article aims to explore the origins of intersectionality through thelegacy of Lorde's feminism and her radical thinking. The concept ofintersectionality has taken on a complex position in feminist scholarshipover the past decade. Many scholars have also considered thecontributions of Audre Lorde to the discussions around intersectionality.It draws parallels between her ideas and it shows how her ideas areinfluenced by both rebellious literary forms and political writing styles.Lorde's radical feminist works have often been regarded as both areflection of identity politics and a shift in situational perception.Intersectionality is in addition said to be a movement that is trying toreclaim the ideas of identity politics and develop new ways to understandthe decentred structures of power. The article uses historicocritical andanalytical approaches to argue that the oeuvre of Lorde's feminismprovides a new perspective on the subject. In her works, Lorde describesa world that is definable only in terms of its relational terms, a world thatis torn apart by the divisions between race, class, sexuality, and gender.She also describes a world that is capable of being understood onlythrough its destructive divisions. The world that she is talking about is aplace that needs to be changed through a process of transformation. Thisworld is also a place where history has been made through the multiplemovements and revolutions that have occurred in it. These are thecontours that define the complex ground that third world feminist politicsare based on.

Fiona Volpe: A New Perspective on James Bond's Iconic <em>Femme Fatale</em>

While narratives of gender politics and female identity in Western visual culture have become more dynamic with the passage of time, one of the most contentious spheres of discussion in mass media surrounds that of Ian Fleming’s ultimate fictional creation, James Bond. Female sexuality and gender politics in the Bond universe has been robustly, and rightfully, scrutinised by academic and casual spectators for at least 50 of the 70 years since his inception. Yet, one of the most enduring characters in the cinematic canon has not yet been given this discerning treatment, in earnest. Originally called "Fiona Kelly" by screenwriters Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins, Fiona Volpe was portrayed by Italian actress Luciana Paluzzi-Solomon in Terence Young’s 1965 film adaptation of Thunderball. In November 2017, I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Paluzzi-Solomon for a now-abandoned book concept. As one of the few actresses from the Sean Connery-era who are still living, she was remarkably forthcoming regarding her professional and personal experiences on set. Without pride or prejudice, Mrs. Paluzzi-Solomon’s account proved to be not only to be illuminating in and of itself as an interview, but also served as a foundation to better understand the origins, development, and public reception of the gold standard femme fatale of the Bond films. This article will explore the character of Fiona Volpe, her origins, plot function, and legacy, from the unique perspective of the woman who brought her to life.

Perceived grievance and individualising moralities: exploring the psychological structure of left-wing authoritarianism

ABSTRACT Research shows a sharp increase in political polarization over the last two decades. While right-wing authoritarianism has received considerable academic attention, the psychological mechanisms of left-wing authoritarianism remain under-explored. This study used structural equation modeling to empirically test the factors that influence left-wing authoritarianism and its relationship with features of identity politics and psychological distress. Moral foundations theory was used to assess the moral concerns underlying left-wing authoritarianism. Participants from English-speaking countries (52.4% female, aged 18 to 85 years old) were recruited from various political groups on social media. The final sample (N = 299) voluntarily completed an online survey measuring left-wing authoritarianism, psychological distress, moral concerns, need for cognitive closure, and emotional reactivity. The final model explained 53% of the variance in left-wing authoritarianism and demonstrated that psychological distress indirectly affects left-wing authoritarianism through perceived grievance. However, perceived grievance had the strongest direct impact, providing support for the premise that perceived grievance, a feature of identity politics, constitutes a strong positive predictor of left-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, non-hypothesized mediating effects were observed from perceived grievance to the individualizing foundations and left-wing authoritarianism.

‘Botha Cake’ and ‘Belgian Onion Soup:’ Gendered Patriotism Through Three South African, First World War, Community Cookbooks

ABSTRACT This article considers three South African community cookbooks – including The Overseas Contingent Fund Recipe Book (Turffontein, 1915) and the Paarl Cookery Book in Aid of War Funds (Paarl, 1918) alongside Wartime Cookery (Cape Town, 1915) – as expressions of gendered patriotism. These community-created cookbooks enabled contributors to participate meaningfully in the First World War by drawing together two established gendered practices: philanthropic fundraising and food and household management. This ‘domesticity in action’ enabled participants to contribute to, and feel connected to, both local and trans-empire causes. These values of philanthropy, economy and patriotism are revealed in the constitutive components of the texts – the titles, aims, prefaces and even the recipes themselves. Apart from supporting specific funds, the call for economy in the cookbooks reflected both experiences and perceptions of wartime material hardship in South Africa. A further consideration of the contributors involved with the books’ compilations highlights the intersection of local and trans-empire networks, and wartime (white) identity politics within urban South Africa. The networks suggest locally-grounded loyalisms, many marked by personal connections to men serving, as well as friend and family networks with overseas reach. Lastly, the article is a reminder of the importance of cookbooks as neglected sources in the writing of history.

El Nacionalismo en la Lucha por la Independencia de las Colonias en África (Angola)

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of Nationalism on the struggle for Independence in the colonies in Africa, with particular emphasis on the case of Angola. The objective of this work is to assess the changes that took place on the Continent from 1888 to 1910, marked by the conquest and occupation of almost the entire African Continent by Western imperialist powers; followed by the effective implementation and installation of the colonial system as an administrative system in the second half of the century. XIX, division and definition of geographic spaces. In fact, the year 1910 was essentially characterized by the consolidation and exploitation of that system, causing major distortions in the economic, social and cultural structures of the dominated territories. The appeal written at the Manchester Congress (1945) to the colonized peoples, expressly advised that all colonies should be freed from foreign imperialist control, both political and economic, and fight by all means to achieve these objectives. The use of qualitative research based on bibliography related to these themes, the inductive-deductive method allowed the (construction) of ideas of a passive Africa, embodied in the emergence of movements that aimed at the overthrow of the colonial system. In effect, with the end of World War II, the process of decolonization began, resulting in a more reinvigorated, radical and consequential African nationalism. This means a more conscious, enlightened and enlightening continental nationalism, better structured and politically framed and represented internationally and with qualitatively higher levels of political and cultural organization, with the year 1960 being marked as the year of Africa, with the outbreak of the various independence of respective African countries and consequent recovery and affirmation of socio-historical, political and cultural identity, hidden by colonization.

Youth political participation and digital movement in Indonesia: the case of #ReformasiDikorupsi and #TolakOmnibusLaw.

The younger generations have always been at the forefront of and contributed significantly to social movements that are critical of state policies or respond to socio-political situations. This is also what happened in large movements involving young people in Indonesia, conventionally in the form of demonstrations and digital movements. This study seeks to explore the relationship between youth political participation, digital media, and the development of youth political identity by analyzing young people's engagement in some of the most significant political protests in Indonesia during the mass protests of #ReformasiDikorupsi, a movement opposing the amendments of several important bills, and #TolakOmnibusLaw, a movement opposing the establishment of a new single bill related to labor and investment, between 2019 and 2020. By analyzing quantitative data through data mining from Twitter from October 2019 to November 2020 with the social network analysis method, this study discusses online youth participation in social movements and the way they shape their political identity. Our research found that young people play an active and central role in building online and offline movements. In particular, the online movement contributes to the growth of the offline protest movement, and vice versa, because of concerns about the practice of illiberal democracy.

Beyond Colonial Politics of Identity: Being and Becoming Female Youth in Colonial Kenya

This paper draws on biographical research among the Akamba and the Luo communities in Eastern and Western Kenya, respectively. Our research explored how practices of adolescence as a process, an institution, and a performance of identity interact with colonial modernities and imaginaries in complex ways. The biographical research was carried out predominantly with women born in the late colonial period in Kenya. We provide critical reflections on the process and affordances of our embodied storytelling approach, which we position as an Africanist methodology and a decolonial research practice. This research and approach provided women with a space to narrate and perform their lived experience, potentially disrupting epistemic inequities that are embedded in the way research on growing up in the past is carried out. The discussions show how colonialism interacted with other factors, including gender and generational power, tradition, girls’ agency, and other life characteristics like poverty and family situation, in order to influence the lived experiences of women. Going beyond the narratives of victimhood that characterise coming of age in similar spaces, we present women’s emergent, incomplete, and incongruent agency. We position this agency as the diverse ways in which people come to terms with their difficult contexts. The discussion also points to the need for unsettling the settled thinking about girlhood and coming of age in specific historical spaces in the global South.

Contrapuntal Citizenship: Solidarity Protests and Multi-layered Belonging in the Lebanese Diaspora in France

ABSTRACT Normative models of citizenship delimit rights and obligations within the territorial boundaries of the modern state. These models fail to capture how political belonging can be stretched and reconfigured across polities. The 2019 ‘17 October Revolution’ in Lebanon galvanised widespread solidarity protests and initiatives in the Lebanese diaspora in France. As sites of cultural encounter, solidarity protest movements in the diaspora created opportunities for different cultural and political identities to collide, producing ‘contrapuntal’ forms of citizenship. Drawing insights from Edward Said’s examination of the ‘contrapuntal,’ this paper argues that as sites of encounter, diasporic solidarity initiatives pluralised definitions of political belonging producing contrapuntal forms of citizenship. By thinking through music, this paper will examine the overlapping layers, or melodies, of political belonging that constitute diasporic citizens. It will contend that diaspora solidarity initiatives allowed activists to enact multiple, sometimes contradicting, claims to belonging. In doing so, it will shift from hybrid to contrapuntal models of diasporic citizenship.