How and when do people strategically deploy identities?
Celebration and Suppression: The Strategic Uses of Identity by the Lesbian and Gay Movement by Mary Bernstein analyzes how identities are deployed in social movements. Bernstein discusses a social movement's relationship with polity, past history, and other conditions which affect its strategic decision making. She also explores how social movements differ while using group and environmental characteristics as an explanation. The article concludes that studies of new social movements “should focus on the structural relationship between identity and mobilization” rather than “asking what is “new””.
This article caused me to reflect on the evolution of social movements. The argument mentions how groups will choose to portray themselves as similar or different from the larger group as a whole. The predominant example of Bernstein’s work is the lesbian and gay movement. She details how the movement began and what changes have been made throughout its history. She uncovers factors which contributed to its failures as well as the factors which lead to the popularity of the lesbian and gay movement. I’ve often debated why candidates for public office switched their stance on the legalization of same sex marriage. Bernstein’s journal helped me find more answers to that debate as she explains the importance of a social movement’s relationship with society.
Identities are activated for change or recognition as I’ve mentioned in the past two blogs. Bernstein’s article adds an analysis of strategy behind identity activation which was absent from our previous two readings. She also does not look specifically at violence or protesting. Her work looks specifically at identity activation in social movements. The commonalities between Bernstein, Claassen, Cederman, Wimmer, and Min demonstrate some factors which lead to identity activation. Together they illustrate how emotion, political relevance, and misrepresentation prompt an individual to activate an identity and take action.
The recent dispute between Major League Baseball's players and owners is an example of these three factors prompting the players to activate their identities. The owners believe that the players should return to play on an expanded schedule with prorated salaries. The players disagree with the owners proposal which also includes a number of other logistics I did not mention. The players are angry at the league for their lack of influence in strategizing the league’s return. They are also upset as the owner’s pursue more profitable proposals at the expense of players while they bear the risk of the virus, pain of leaving family, and responsibility of good play. As a result, the players have activated their common identity in fighting the owner’s proposal while halting play.
The players could have chosen a different strategy and tried to compromise with the owners. Yet they chose not to due to their extreme anger over misrepresentation. Their fight exemplifies how emotion, political relevance, and misrepresentation prompt an individual or group to activate an identity and take action. If the players had been more represented, they may still resist the owners proposal but their strategy would vary. Bernstein’s article shows that a set of factors will cause identity activation, but the magnitude of the factors is what determines strategy. The concept of identity activation shows the difference between cause and effect.
I always enjoy reading your sports analogues for these readings! Again, I think your example is useful because the strategy employed is not a foregone conclusion. At the time, strategies often feel that way: if there was a lot of anger and everyone was seemingly at an impasse, then the only potential result is to fight over pay with the owners. However, activating anger and all of those additional steps were strategic. Either leaders organized everyone and convinced them to get angry or they seized the opportunity after everyone was already angry. Even the absence of leadership or organization is a strategic choice, as someone influential could have attempted to intervene and to push the movement in a new direction.
ReplyDeleteHi Peter, I like the example of how baseball players activating their identity and stopping playing. Nowadays, many people are being forced to work when the pandemic is still affecting people’s health. For example, people who work at Tyson Foods are even required to speed up the production process, and it makes social distancing impossible. Why do you think that there is not a national movement to support these people whose company puts profits ahead of people? Why haven’t these people activate their identity and take action?
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