HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATIONS IN LONDON AND ANGLO‐JEWISH (DIS‐)UNITY

This study of selected episodes of Holocaust commemorations in London (UK) sheds light on the tense and ambiguous relationship between commemoration of the Holocaust and Anglo‐Jewish unity. Many have shared the aspiration for Anglo‐Jewish unity at Holocaust commemorations, but a narrow definition of “unity”, as taken to mean centralization, uniformity and consensus, has been restrictive and has not served the desired end. As these case studies demonstrate, despite the high level of cohesion achieved by the rituals of the ceremony and the collective mourning, Holocaust commemorations have also been occasions of conflict and disunity. It is the recent proliferation of commemorations in the 1990s, taking place in a diverse range of Jewish organizations and institutions rather than one combined memorial gathering, that has led to Anglo‐Jewry’s uniting in common moments of remembrance. These differing approaches to the nature, form and content of Holocaust commemorations should be perceived not only as a positive development for the future of Holocaust remembrance in Britain but also an indication of an increasingly healthy Anglo‐Jewry.     

The Role of Group Experiences in the Healing Process of Massive Childhood Holocaust Trauma

This paper proposes that Holocaust child survivors profoundly benefit from participating in a variety of group modalities. From participant observation and interviews we demonstrate that affiliation in organizations, social events, commemorations, rituals, and particular therapeutic groups each contributes to the well-being of Holocaust child survivors. Mourning is enhanced by joining forces with others from a historical event that left many children orphans, bereft of a home, a community, a country, and an identity. Group participants achieve individuation and ego integration, and gain clarity about the complex psychological consequences of surviving the Holocaust. A fragmented identity is restored through the opportunity of interacting with others whose identity has been ruptured by similar cataclysmic events.Senior Research Fellow, Graduate Center of CUNY. Codirector, Psychotherapy with Generations of the Holocaust and Related Traumas, Training Institute for Mental Health. Codirector, Child Development ResearchSenior Member and Faculty, National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. Codirector, Child Development Research     

How Collective Participation Impacts Social Identity: A Longitudinal Study from India

A key issue for political psychology concerns the processes whereby people come to invest psychologically in socially and politically significant group identities. Since Durkheim, it has been assumed that participation in group‐relevant collective events increases one's investment in such group identities. However, little empirical research explicitly addresses this or the processes involved. We investigated these issues in a longitudinal questionnaire study conducted at one of the world's largest collective events—a month‐long Hindu festival in north India (the Magh Mela). Data gathered from pilgrims and comparable others who did not attend the event show that one month after the event, those who had participated (but not the controls) exhibited heightened social identification as a Hindu and increased frequency of prayer rituals. Data gathered from pilgrims during the festival predicted these outcomes. Specifically, perceptions of sharing a common identity with other pilgrims and of being able to enact one's social identity in this event helped predict changes in participants' identification and behavior. The wider significance of these data for political psychology is discussed.     

The role of the ‘other’ in national identity: exploring the context‐dependence of the national ingroup stereotype

Analysts from a range of disciplines (especially sociology and social anthropology) highlight the role of the ‘other’ in the construction and definition of national identity. Recently some social psychologists have come to emphasize the inherently relational nature of identity. Drawing upon these recent investigations, the present paper reports a field study investigating the context‐dependent nature of group identity. Using a modified version of the Katz–Braly task, British subjects (n=240) stereotyped two national groups: Americans and British. They did so in two conditions. In the ‘one‐group’ conditions, subjects rated either of the two groups. In the ‘two‐group’ conditions, they rated one whilst also considering the other. Following Oakes, Haslam and Turner (1994) we predicted that whereas subjects' stereotypes of the national outgroup (the Americans) would be unaffected by this manipulation, their stereotype of the national ingroup (the British) would be affected. This prediction was confirmed. We also predicted that the national ingroup stereotype obtained in the ‘two‐group’ condition would be one which was defined in contrast to the American ‘other’ which constituted the comparative context. Using a measure which takes into account the applicability of ingroup‐defining terms to both the ingroup and the outgroup (the diagnosticity measure of stereotyping proposed by McCauley and Stitt, 1978) we show that the ingroup identity definition produced in this condition did indeed differentiate the British from the Americans. The significance of these data for those concerned with the application of social psychological theory to real‐life social problems is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collective school-type identity: predicting students' motivation beyond academic self-concept

In Germany, according to their prior achievement students are tracked into different types of secondary school that provide profoundly different options for their future educational careers. In this paper we suggest that as a result, school tracks clearly differ in their social status or reputation. This should translate into different collective school‐type identities for their students, irrespective of the students’ personal academic self‐concepts. We examine the extent to which collective school‐type identity systematically varies as a function of the school track students are enrolled in, and the extent to which students’ collective school‐type identity makes a unique contribution beyond academic self‐concept and school track in predicting scholastic motivation. In two cross‐sectional studies a measure of collective school‐type identity is established and applied to explain motivational differences between two school tracks in Berlin. In Study 1 (N = 39 students) the content of the collective school‐type identity is explored by means of an open format questionnaire. Based on these findings a structured instrument (semantic differential) to measure collective school‐type identity is developed. In Study 2 (N = 1278 students) the assumed structure with four subscales (Stereotype Achievement, Stereotype Motivation, Stereotype Social, and Compensation) is proved with confirmatory factor analysis. This measure is used to compare the collective school‐type identity across school tracks and predict motivational outcomes. Results show large differences in collective school‐type identity between students of different school tracks. Furthermore, these differences can explain motivational differences between school tracks. Collective school‐type identity has incremental predictive power for scholastic motivation, over and above the effects of academic self‐concept and school track.     

MARGARET THATCHER'S CHRISTIAN FAITH: A Case Study in Political Theology

Throughout the 1980s Margaret Thatcher dominated British and global politics. At the same time she maintained an active Christian faith, which she understood as shaping and informing her political choices and policies. In this article I argue that we can construct from Thatcher's key speeches, her memoirs, and her book on public policy a cultural “theo‐political” identity which guided her political decisions. Thatcher's identity was as an Anglo‐Saxon Nonconformist. This consisted of her belief in values such as thrift and hard work, care for the family and local neighbor, and charitable generosity; her belief in the renewal of the national British Christian spirit; and her notion of morality as the opportunity for free choice. Without a recognition of the centrality of her theo‐political identity, it is difficult to understand the values and beliefs which were central to her political life. The methodological issues raised by the construction of this theo‐political identity are examined in this article. The aim of the proposed methodology is to develop theological insights into a political phenomenon like Thatcher rather than make policy judgments or recommendations.     

Compassionate Conservatives? Evangelicals,Economic Conservatism,and National Identity

In the United States, white evangelicals are more economically conservative than other Americans. It is commonly assumed that white evangelicals oppose redistributive social policies because of their individualistic theology. Yet Canadian evangelicals are just as supportive of redistributive social policy as other Canadians, even though they share the same tools of conservative Protestant theology. To solve this puzzle, I use multi‐sited ethnography to compare how two evangelical congregations in the United States and Canada talked about poverty and the role of government. In both countries, evangelicals made sense of their religious responsibilities to “the poor” by reference to national identity. Evangelicals used their theological tools differently in the United States and Canada because different visions of national solidarity served as cultural anchors for religious discourse about poverty. To understand the political and civic effects of religion, scholars need to consider the varied ways that religious groups imagine national community within religious practice.     

National Identity,Collective Events,and Meaning: A Qualitative Study of Adolescents’ Autobiographical Narratives of Flag Ceremonies in Finland

Although collective events are central to group identity processes, little is known about how young people experience and remember national ceremonies in which they have participated. This qualitative study analyzes 80 autobiographical narratives written by upper secondary school students about flag ceremonies from their past in Finland. The analysis reveals that the narratives fall into three categories ((Dis)honored, Deserved and Loved Flag) according to how the social context, participants’ actions, narrator’s role, and emotions are described, all of which combine to create a dense web of meanings associated with this common national ceremony. The results also indicate that different group contexts—family and peer group networks and the national context—are inextricably linked in the narratives and that the meanings associated with these contexts tend to fuse. The findings highlight the importance of analyzing national collective events and related autobiographical memories to better understand the sources of national identity’s emotional power.     

Applicability of the social identity model of collective action in predicting support for interreligious violence in Indonesia

To what extent does religious identification promote collective efficacy and perceived injustice that contribute to explain support for interreligious violence in Indonesia? This overarching research question is inspired by theoretical insights starting from social identity theory, and noticeably enriched by collective action theories. We use high‐quality data of 1,995 randomly selected individuals (Muslims and Christians) from across the Indonesian archipelago to investigate the mediating effects of perceived injustice and collective efficacy on the relationship between religiosity and support for interreligious violence. We also improve upon previous research with an elaborate measure of religiosity (beliefs, practice, and salience). Our structural equation modelling analysis reveals that collective efficacy significantly mediates the relationship between the religiosity dimensions and support for interreligious violence. Moreover, on average, the Muslim community has a higher level of collective efficacy, as compared to the Christian community, which positively affects the relationship between most religiosity dimensions and support for interreligious violence. An interesting finding is that in the Christian community, salience is overall negatively related to collective efficacy, which then negatively affects support for interreligious violence. These results provide novel empirical insights on the role of religious identity in interreligious conflicts in the South Asian context, especially Indonesia.     

Memory and identity among post-Soviet Evangelical Christians–Baptists in contemporary Ukraine

Evangelical Christians–Baptists (ECBs) are a prominent denomination in contemporary Ukraine. They survived persecution by Soviet state atheism and are meeting the challenges of postcommunist freedom. They provide good ground for a case study on how religious communities preserve their collective memories and identities when times and conditions change. In this paper, based on various sources produced by churches and religious organisations, I analyse the ways in which ECBs maintain and reflect upon their collective memories and reinvent their traditions. Particularly I focus on historical narratives and commemorations. I argue that the ECBs develop their collective memories in transnational, local and personal perspectives. They are eager to see the history of their community as an inalienable part of the national history of Ukraine, but also consider themselves as both rooted in Russian culture and heirs of a European Protestant tradition. The main values in the core of their memory discourse are holiness, spirituality, suffering for faith and survival of the community in a hostile society. Celebrations of faith heroes and martyrs are especially popular among those who belong to the former underground wing of this denomination. A more recent trend is the celebration of the history of local congregations. As ECBs perceive threats to their traditional way of life from the West and the national liberalism of today, they become more fundamentalist and persistent in its preservation and protection. Ultimately, in order to defend their cultural space from ‘immoral’ influences, they have become more politically active and have contributed to conservative and anti-liberal agendas on the national level in Ukraine.     

Contact and Community: The Role of Social Interactions for a Political Identity

Can social interaction contribute to a sense of community that transcends national borders? This question was initially raised by Deutsch (1953) and revived by Fligstein (2008). My analysis makes two contributions to this literature. First, insights from social psychology are applied to specify the microfoundations for why contact across group boundaries can be related to a collective identity. Second, a new three‐wave panel data set is used to examine the relationship empirically. The sample includes almost 1,500 students at 38 German universities. The results show that social interaction contributes to a European identity, but that it is in particular contact with other international students rather than contact with hosts that fosters it most effectively. The data also reveal that contact has a more profound impact on individuals with a weak European identity to begin with. Finally, the change I find is stable after students return to their home institutions.     

Identity Politics and Politicized Identities: Identity Processes and the Dynamics of Protest

Over the last decades, the concept of identity has become increasingly central in the social psychology of protest. Collective identity, politicized collective identity, dual identity, and multiple identities are concepts that help to understand and describe the social psychological dynamics of protest. In this article, I theorize about identity processes in the context of protest participation: how group identification establishes the link between social identity and collective identity, how multiple identities and dual identities influence protest participation, and how collective identity politicizes and radicalizes. I will illustrate my argument with results from research into collective action participation among farmers in the Netherlands and Spain, Turkish, and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands and New York, South African citizens, and participants in street demonstrations conducted by my research group at VU‐University.     

The role of social identity processes in mass emergency behaviour: An integrative review

This review provides a new integration of recent research that has formed the basis of a social identity explanation of supportive collective behaviour among survivors in emergencies and disasters. I describe a model in which a sense of common fate is the source of an emergent shared social identity among survivors, which in turn provides the motivation to give social support to others affected. In addition, by drawing on the concept of relational transformation in psychological crowds, I show how an emergent shared social identity can engender a range of further behavioural and cognitive consequences that contribute to collective self-organisation in emergencies, including expected support, coordination of behaviour, and collective efficacy. It will be argued that the model can been applied to explaining how potentially dangerous crowd events avoid disaster: shared social identity operates as the basis of spontaneous self-organisation in these cases, as in many emergencies and disasters.     

‘Something That Unites Us All’: Understandings of St. Patrick's Day Parades as Representing the Irish National Group

The present study investigates how attendees at national celebratory crowd events—specifically St. Patrick's Day parades—understand the role of such events in representing and uniting the national community. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with people who attended St. Patrick's Day parades in either Dublin or Belfast. In year 1, full‐length interviews were conducted before and after the events (N = 17), and in years 1 and 2, shorter interviews were conducted during the events (year 1 N = 170; year 2 N = 142). Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis, allowing the identification of three broad themes. Participants reported that (i) the events extend the boundary of the national group, using participation to define who counts as Irish; (ii) the events strategically represent the nature of the national group, maximising positive images and managing stereotypical representations; and (iii) symbolism serves to unify the group but can also disrupt already fragile unity and so must be managed. Overall, this points to a strategic identity dimension to these crowd events. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research in terms of the role of large‐scale celebratory events in the strategic representation of everyday social identities. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

集体行动参与双路径模型再分析：来自现实与网络行动情境的检验

为探明中国文化背景下,Simon等人(1998)提出的集体行动参与双路径模型的适用性,以及现实和网络情境下行动参与心理机制的异同,本研究以“中日撞船事件”为考察蓝本向天津市431名大学生被试进行调查研究,结果发现：国家认同和工具理性动机对集体行动倾向的影响独立且显著,但两路径在内部动机上有汇聚;现实和网络两种行动情境下的整合模型对行动倾向的解释率为37%和44%。结论：中国式集体行动表现为内部驱力作用下的集体主义理性特征。     

What do I gain from joining crowds? Does self‐expansion help to explain the relationship between identity fusion,group efficacy and collective action?

Four studies were carried out to examine how identity fusion, self‐ and group efficacy, and collective action are related and what role self‐expansion plays in these relationships. In the pilot study, participants recalled their experience of participating in mass gatherings. The three other studies were conducted during mass gatherings organized for collective purposes: a music concert (Study 1), a bicycle activist event (Study 2), and Equality Days (Study 3). The results showed (a) a significant positive relationship between personal and group identity fusion, self‐expansion, and self‐efficacy (Study 1); (b) a significant mediating effect of self‐expansion on the relationship between personal and group identity fusion and group efficacy (Studies 1 and 2); and (c) a significant mediating effect of self‐ expansion and group efficacy on the relationship between identity fusion and collective action tendency (Studies 2 and 3).     

Collective identity and wellbeing of Roma minority adolescents in Bulgaria

In Europe and particularly in Bulgaria, Roma represent the largest low‐status minority group that is subjected to marked public intolerance and discrimination. This study examined links among Roma (N = 207) and Bulgarian (N = 399) adolescents’ ethnic, familial, and religious identities as salient identity aspects for their psychological wellbeing. Results indicated that, as expected, Roma youth reported lower levels of wellbeing than Bulgarian youth. The latter revealed a weaker religious identity than Roma youth, whereas no ethnic group differences emerged regarding Bulgarian or familial identity. Furthermore, we observed that collective identity was higher in older participants of both groups. Finally, a multigroup analysis using structural equation modeling showed that collective identity was a positive predictor of wellbeing for both Roma and Bulgarian adolescents. Findings demonstrated differences in salience as well as structural communalities regarding ways in which collective identity affects wellbeing of youth from two ethnically diverse communities.     

REVIEWS

This article identifies a previously ignored social movement that existed in London during 1827–1831. The Jewish rights movement, as it will be called here, actually involved a coalition of Jews and Christians. During the movement’s initial phase, London Jews, led by Moses E. Levy (an activist from the United States), joined in solidarity with their oppressed brethren in Russia: their public protests against tsarist policies drew a broad response from the national and international press. This unparalleled movement influenced national political agendas and major legislative reforms, and resulted in striking changes within the Anglo‐Jewish community. By utilising the modern social movement framework as an essential tool to reconstruct this long‐forgotten collective effort, the Jewish rights movement has emerged as a notable chapter in the development of modern Jewish political identity.

“At the present moment, the eyes of England, of Europe, and of a great part of the civilized world seem to be directed toward us, and… men are looking with something approaching anxiety for the result of the Public Meetings of the Jewish Nation that have been called (the first time for many centuries)” (Levy Jewish Community).     

工具理性、社会认同与群体愤怒—— 集体行动的社会心理学研究

集体行动现象一直备受社会科学共同体关注。20世纪早期, 社会心理学曾是集体行动研究界的主导视角, 后逐渐转至社会学与政治学视角。最近20多年, 社会心理学视角开始复苏, 进入研究复兴期。社会心理学家先后确认工具理性、社会认同和群体愤怒这三种影响个体参与集体行动的主要前因变量, 并分别建构了包含工具理性和群体愤怒路径、包含工具理性和社会认同路径, 以及包含社会认同、工具理性和群体愤怒路径的三种重要集体行动参与模型。未来的集体行动社会心理学研究应重视行动情境类型、个体心理特征和除愤怒之外的群体情绪在集体行动参与中的作用, 考察理想信念等潜在新前因变量的可能地位, 加强与群际关系、歧视动机等其它经典研究领域的联系。     

Social relations in crowds: Recognition,validation and solidarity

Social identity research on crowds demonstrates how cognitive self-definition as a crowd member results in conformity to identity-relevant norms. Rather less research has addressed the social-relational changes within a crowd and how these impact collective experience positively. The present study investigates these processes at a month-long mass gathering in India. Analysis of 37 interviews with participants attending the annual Magh Mela pilgrimage evidences the concept of shared identity as underpinning their understanding of this mass gathering. Moreover, a theoretically derived thematic analysis of these interviews shows the value of the analytic concepts of recognition, validation, and solidarity in illuminating the ways in which social relations in the crowd were experienced and contributed to the experience of the event. Through exploring the multi-dimensional nature of relational connectedness in crowds we contribute to an understanding of crowd experience and group processes.