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In his article Dieter Rucht states that a strong identity should not be presupposed as a condition of the success of social movements. In the contrary, weak identities of social movements present some advantages in mobilizing for protest. To validate this thesis, Rucht analyzes the case study of the anti- Castor-protests and also draws upon the globalization critics movement. Both cases show that a rather weak identity of heterogeneous groups results in larger mobilization and -- concerning the anti-Castor-protests -- success. He concedes that weak identities will not automatically assure a movement's political strength; but he points out five strengths of weak identities -- amongst others a larger communicative outreach and a more flexible approach to new internal and external challenges. Adapted from the source document

"This book is a cutting-edge interdisciplinary collection of essays by some of today's most forward-thinking scholars. These writers explore the ways in which the prefix 'trans' erupts German identity and the identity of Germany itself. The volume calls German identity into question and examines the ways in which the prefix 'trans' is deployed to these ends in relation to national borders, historical limits, political institutions, social practices, and forms of cultural and aesthetic expression. The collection reveals the ways in which the transcendence of national, corporeal, disciplinary, and institutional limits is embodied by the use of the prefix 'trans'--and has the potential to do so much more. The volume engages the multifaceted nature of 'trans'--and a Germaneness that defies geography--to explore how Germans and Germany are increasingly situated 'beyond' limits. Collectively, these investigations reveal a radical discourse of Germanness, a discourse with significant implications for historical and contemporary German self-understanding. The book asks: What is German identity beyond geography? And what are the promises and perils for Germany, and German identity, in becoming transGerman?"--

"Der Beitrag versucht zwei Fragen zu beantworten. Zum einen fragt er danach, welche sozialen Konstruktions- und Konstitutionsbedingungen den Fremden zum Fremden machen. Zum anderen versucht er die Frage zu beantworten, wie der Fremde zum Feind wird. Ausgehend von einem Begriffsvorschlag Zygmunt Baumanns wird gezeigt, daß der Fremde zunächst aus dem Raum gesellschaftlicher Vertrautheit herausfällt. Zum Feind aber, so das paradoxe Ergebnis der Analyse, wird der Fremde erst dann, wenn er nicht mehr fremd ist, wenn der Fremde ein Vertrauter geworden ist. Der abstrakte Begriffsvorschlag wird am Beispiel der Integration von Arbeitsmigranten geprüft." (Autorenreferat)

Examines the relationship between identity & protest by combining social & collective concepts of identity & collective action. While collective identity, as expressed through symbols, rituals, & shared values, can shed light on this relationship, the study of influences on individual identity & action must be included to fully understand it. The theory of social identity comes from the perspective of the individual & involves strategies to improve identity through self-commitment to groups or ideas, participation in rituals, & use of symbols. Collective action represents merely one of these strategies, whereas group identity is a fundamental factor in choosing a strategy. In studying the identity components of collective action, the analytic divisions between collective & social identity concepts demand that each concept be distinguished. Only their interplay can fully explain the relationship between identity & protest. 29 References. Adapted from the source document.

Social movements exist without protest events. They remain 'latent', and provide, when protest events occur again, the attribution of these events to a social movement. This meaning attributed to protest events requires that we know collectively what a social movement is. We speak of the 'identity' of a social movement. In order to grasp this identity analytically the proposal is made to conceive identity as a 'narrative network', as a network which is identifiable by protesters and their addressees and the observing public as constituted by a story which all understand and share. Identification is knowledge about who is considered to be part of a social movement and who not. This conceptualization takes into account the double structure of social forms, to be a network of social relations among actors in which stories circulate allowing to draw meaningful boundaries around social forms (such as social movements). This theoretical idea is used to look for an explanation for the relative weakness of 'European social movements'. It seems that there is -- in spite of favorable political opportunity structures -- no movement emerging between nationally based movements and global social movements. There are no European movement identities, no meaningful stories which make the particularity of a network of movement actors visible. This is due to the lack of stories which are considered to provide -- beyond the necessary condition of networks of social relations among protest actors -- the sufficient condition for narrative networks. We are dealing with networks without identity. Adapted from the source document

Describes the social identity (SI) approach, developed during the 1970s to improve social psychology's ability to explain large-scale processes & group formation & behavior. The approach is based on the idea that societies consist of hierarchical arrangements of distinct social categories based on power, status, & prestige, & the assumption that cognitive categorization processes play important social roles. Some SI proponents use a theory of stimulus classification that accounts for both inter- & intraclass effects & both in- & outgroup attribution. This theory explains processes of ideologicalization & group cohesion in social movements by the pressure to stabilize SI. The self-categorization theory, which also stems from the SI approach, holds that individuals perceive & structure themselves & others through abstract social categories & internalize aspects of those categories into their self-concepts. It is concluded that these theories can contribute to the study of social movement collective identity, but are less valuable for interpreting the ideological components that exist within collective identities (eg, racial, ethnic, & religious motives). 58 References. Adapted from the source document.