Leaders politicize groups by embodying the shared identity that makes their frames normative

Evidence

It is important to note that we do not wish to maintain that beyond the variables discussed so far, no other variable may play a (facilitating or inhibitory) role in the politicizing process. On the contrary, we would like to argue that it is a distinctive strength of our ideal-typical model that it enables us to incorporate such additional variables to gain a more systematic understanding of their role in the politicizing process. The role of leaders may be a case in point. Following Reicher and Hopkins (1996a, 1996b), leaders can be understood as “entrepreneurs of identity” that facilitate the various steps of the politicizing process. To the extent that they epitomize the collective “we,” they are able to facilitate the propagation of collective frames that help group members to interpret shared grievances, to identify an external enemy, and to define the wider societal context including the third party. This should be so because, by virtue of the shared group membership, the attitudes and actions of the leader are rendered normative for ordinary group members who should feel compelled to follow the leader’s example to verify their collective identity (Haslam, 2001). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4439

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the ‘entrepreneurs of identity’ concept for leadership in politicization.
• XREF: Connects to social identity theory of leadership (Haslam, Reicher); parallels how charismatic authority works in Weber and how collective frames shape movement behavior. — connects to: Leaders gain authority only by voicing the group’s unformulated intentions; Leaders lead by representing a consensus that shared identity makes possible. — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 67; Leadership structure tracks the strength of shared social identity over time. — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 56 (+10 more)