This article develops a social psychological model of politicized collective identity that revolves around 3 conceptual triads. The 1st triad consists of collective identity, the struggle between groups for power, and the wider societal context. It is proposed that people evince politicized collective identity to the extent that they engage as self-conscious group members in a power struggle on behalf of their group knowing that it is the more inclusive societal context in which this struggle has to be fought out. Next, 3 antecedent stages leading to politicized collective identity are distinguished: awareness of shared grievances, adversarial attributions, and involvement of society at large. This sequence culminates in the final triad because the intergroup power struggle is eventually triangulated by involving society at large or representatives thereof. Consequences of politicized collective identity are discussed.

Determinants of collective behavior, as suggested by the social identity or self-categorization approach and social movement research, were examined in 2 field studies. Study 1 was conducted in the context of the older people's movement in Germany and Study 2 in the context of the gay movement in the United States. Both studies yielded similar results pointing to 2 independent pathways to willingness to participate in collective action; one is based on cost-benefit calculations (including normative considerations), and the other is based on collective identification as an activist. Study 2 included an experimental manipulation and provided evidence for the causal role of collective identification as an activist. Directions for future research on the proposed dual-pathway model are suggested.

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The article examines the role of collective identification processes in the politicization of Turkish migrants in Germany. Building on the suggestion that politicized collective identity is a dual identity, the authors predicted and found that dual identification as both Turkish and German was positively related to politicization among members of the Turkish minority in Germany. This relationship was found in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses and held up even when the influence of sociodemographic variables, past political activity, and other forms of collective identification were statistically controlled, suggesting a unique and causal role of dual identification. However, there was no evidence that dual identification fosters radicalization or even political violence. The implications for social integration of politicization driven by dual identification are discussed, as is the interplay of dual identification and separatist identification that could underlie the shift from involvement in normative politics to radicalization.