The Gallic Village? identity projects and Austrian responses to Fukushima

Description

Identities both are about being and about becoming; as identity entrepreneurs individuals and social groups advance and coconstruct identities in the making. This perspective emphasizes communication, social activity and agency. The specific choice of categories for understanding self and others must be seen as involving a strategic dimension. As such, future-oriented identity projects are intended to mobilize the in-group and to mitigate challenges by others. The conception of identity projects as strategic efforts also opens the way to ask what makes such projects successful: “success in realizing one project over another depends on imposing one version of identity over all other versions. That is, the very contingency of identity requires that it be presented as non-contingent, as self-evident, as not one version among many but as the only possible version” (Reicher, 2004, p.938). Identity offers typically are justified by culturally significant symbols, examples and metaphors, and by making reference to historical events that are used with the intention to give authenticity to proposed claims. Drawing on media, interview and survey data this contribution sets out to analyse Austrian responses to the Fukushima accident with a focus on collective identity constructions. The dominant identity offer manages to draw diverse concerns together under one banner, mobilising considerable parts of the public to show resistance against the technology. Reicher, S. (2004). The Context of Social Identity: Domination, Resistance, and Change. Political Psychology, 25(6), 921-945.

Period	19 Oct 2012
Event title	4S Conference
Event type	Conference
Location	DenmarkShow on map