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Lights and Shadows: Construction of Collective Identity in Social Movement in Post-Socialist Macedonia
- Author(s):
- Byeongsun Ahn
- Date:
- 2017
- Subject(s):
- Eastern Europe, Area studies, Identity (Psychology), Group identity, Social movements, Social psychology
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- Identity Theory, Macedonia, Social identity Theory, social movements, Eastern European studies, Identity, Social identity
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6VC2F
- Abstract:
- This article analyzes construction of post-ethnic collective identity in the 2014-2016 Macedonian social movements. Instead of looking at the large-scale political changes as a yard stick for a success or a failure of a social movement, it focuses on the cognitive process of collective identity and social action, whereby heterogeneous individuals come together as a collective entity, learn to understand their grievances in collective terms, and nurture a new sense of group-identity in relation to the external environment. It sees that this process itself – based on shared memories of collective struggle for the common interest against the common enemy – shall be understood as a fruitful outcome of a social movement that generates new movement biographies for sustainable and permanent ‘we-ness’. In the light of Bernd Simon and Bert Klandermans’ ‘tripod approach’ to collective identity, it furthermore argues that the success of a long-lasting social movement lies on making of politically relevant collective identity that appeals to social bystanders in the general public, and that this inclusive and societal context beyond the ethno-nationalist rhetoric was a driving force behind the real success of the 2014-2016 movements.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 4 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
ahn_suedost_mitteilungen.pdf