Leaders’ power to define reality depends on the balance between mobilization and resistance
Evidence
We argued above (a) that leaders and followers are dependent upon the nature of social reality and hence the definition of social categories and (b) that leaders define social categories and thereby mobilize group members to transform social reality. But what then determines the balance between these two sides of the equation? When are leaders and followers able to redefine social conditions and when are they defined by them? When are they architects of the future and when are they prisoners of the present? Or, to put it slightly differently, what determines whether leaders and their groups are able to realize their vision of the social world in practice? We suggest that the answer lies in considering the balance between the power generated by any social mobilization and the nature of the resistances that this mobilization must overcome. — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 106
Categorization
- QUESTION: Directly relevant to the reader’s stated question: this posits that effective identity-framing is constrained by sedimented institutions and counter-mobilization — how does the ‘description rather than assertion’ feel survive when counter-claims exist?
- XREF: connects to: Leaders strategically define social categories to advance their mobilization projects — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 80; The fundamental form of power is defining reality — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 387; Leaders convert social identity into social reality by initiating group and societal structures — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 118 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- The fundamental form of power is defining reality
#expands(0.78) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 387 - Leaders convert social identity into social reality by initiating group and societal structures
#expands(0.72) — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 118 - Strong leadership signals the weakness of the underlying social movement
#complicates(0.72) — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 272