Elites hold power that mass movements can and do check through organized struggle

Evidence

A group that shares grievances and holds an external enemy or opponent responsible is likely to demand corrective action or compensation from that opponent. If the opponent complies with such claims, no politicization of collective identity takes place. However, if the claims are refused and the aggrieved group does not give in, the interaction becomes more confrontational, and politicization continues. This is not to say that increased confrontation as such is responsible for a politicized collective identity. Many fierce intergroup confrontations exist that do not provide the members of the antagonistic groups with a politicized collective identity (e.g., confrontations between fans of competing soccer teams or confrontations between members of different street gangs). Instead, we hold that the collective identity of the members of an aggrieved group who engage in adversarial attributions finally politicizes to the extent that these group members try to transform the confrontation into a more comprehensive power struggle forcing society at large to take sides either with their in-group or with their opponent. This implies that they acknowledge or even stress their identity as a member of that society because only by virtue of their membership in this more inclusive group or community are they entitled to societal support for their claims (Wenzel, 2000). This insight is nicely captured in a recent statement made by the then leader of the parliamentary faction of the German socialist party, Gregor Gysi, who, shortly before his resignation, admonished his party that “[we] have to become part of society—if we want to change it” (“Words of the Week,” 2000, p. 2). In a similar manner, Klandermans et al. (1998; see also Roefs et al, 1998) observed that, while their ethnic identity as Afrikaners politicized, supporters of the Freedom Front in South Africa also maintained a strong national identity. In more general terms, politicized collective identity is always also nested identity in that it presupposes identification with the more inclusive social entity that provides the context for shared grievances, adversarial attributions, and the ensuing power struggles for social change (or resistance to such change). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4433 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Elite power over anti-Muslim discourse is open to contestation by mass movements; Political mobilization requires transforming a confrontation into a broader societal power struggle — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4433; Collective association multiplies individual power to achieve radical change (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Collective association multiplies individual power to achieve radical change #expands (0.85)
• Elite power over anti-Muslim discourse is open to contestation by mass movements #exemplifies (0.80)
• Political mobilization requires transforming a confrontation into a broader societal power struggle #expands (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4433