CollectiveIdentity.org: Collective Identity in Online and Offline Feminist Activist Groups

This study examines collective identity, a concept that is used in social movement theory to understand why people are motivated to participate in social movements and social movement groups. Collective identity is a social-psychological process that links the individual to the group through a series of group interactions that revolve around social movement activity. This is a qualitative study that examines collective identity in an online social movement group and an offline social movement group. Reports from the two groups are compared to see what variation exists between these two different groups. This research is one of the first examinations of collective identity outside of conventional face-to-face group settings. The research presented in this thesis demonstrates the difficulty a social movement group that exists online might have in generating a collective identity because of an absence of face-to-face interaction.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Department dc:contributor.department

Sociology

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Ayers, Michael D.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Wimberley, Dale W.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• McCaughey, Martha
• Parker-Gwin, Rachel

• Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
• Cyberculture
• Collective Identity
• Social Movement Group

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-06112001-151759

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33518