Collective Identity

Polletta and Jasper, 2001
We have defined collective identity as an individual’s cognitive, moral, and emotional connection with a broader community, category, practice, or institution. It is a perception of a shared status or relation, which may be imagined rather than experienced directly, and it is distinct from personal identities, although it may form part of a personal identity. A collective identity may have been first constructed by outsiders … who may still enforce it, but it depends on some acceptance by those to whom it is applied.

Polletta, Francesca, and James M. Jasper. “Collective Identity and Social Movements.” The Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001) :285