Impresarios of identity: How the leaders of Czechoslovakia's ‘Candlelight Demonstration’ enabled effective collective action in a context of repression

Journal article


Jurstakova, K., Ntontis, E. and Reicher, S. 2023. Impresarios of identity: How the leaders of Czechoslovakia's ‘Candlelight Demonstration’ enabled effective collective action in a context of repression. British Journal of Social Psychology. 63 (1), pp. 153-169. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12671
AuthorsJurstakova, K., Ntontis, E. and Reicher, S.
Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of identity leadership (Haslam et al., The new psychology of leadership: Identity, influence and power, Routledge, 2020) in the 1988 ‘Candlelight Demonstration’ in Bratislava which was a precursor to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The analysis is based on interviews with the five remaining leaders of the demonstration and addresses three core issues. First, how leaders use performative means (identity impresarioship) as well as limited rhetorical means (identity entrepreneurship) to assemble protestors and create a sense of shared identity amongst them. Second, how these strategies of mobilization are linked to the highly repressive context in which the demonstration took place. Third, we analyse the extent to which these strategies are rooted in a psychological understanding of the processes of mobilization. We conclude by addressing the implications for our general understanding of leadership and the mobilization of collective action and the need for more research into these processes under conditions of repression.

KeywordsCollective action; Indentity leadership; Mobilization; Repression; Social identity
Year2023
JournalBritish Journal of Social Psychology
Journal citation63 (1), pp. 153-169
PublisherWiley
ISSN0144-6665
2044-8309
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12671
Official URLhttps://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjso.12671
FunderCanterbury Christ Church University
Publication dates
Print22 Jul 2023
Publication process dates
Accepted14 Jul 2023
Deposited26 Jul 2023
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
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https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/95257/impresarios-of-identity-how-the-leaders-of-czechoslovakia-s-candlelight-demonstration-enabled-effective-collective-action-in-a-context-of-repression

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