Identité et appartenance sociale

• Main Author: Christian Lazzeri
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: ENS Éditions 2013-10-01
• Series: Tracés
• Subjects: identity; belonging; rational choice; recognition; empathy
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/traces/5705

If a person and a social group share a common attribute, does it imply that the person is integrated in that group ? Is this common denominator the basis of a relationship of allegiance, linking the person to a social group ? Does it foster mutual understanding and emotional contagion between members of the group ? Does it reduce the uncertainty of the mutual expectations regarding the behaviors of the group members, in return for the level of trust they share ? Does it create solidarity between group members ? The concept of collective identity is a way to answer these questions affirmatively, as this paper attempts to show by examining theoretical endeavors to eliminate this concept from social sciences, and replace it with such notions as identification, solidarity or usefulness – a substitution achieved by numerous theories of rational choice, from sociology to economics. Their critical assessment shows, conversely, how hard it is to do without this concept if we are to account for relationships of belonging.