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Material Interests, Identity and Linked Fate in Three Countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2020

Michael J. Donnelly Open the ORCID record for Michael J. Donnelly [Opens in a new window]
Michael J. Donnelly*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mj.donnelly@utoronto.ca
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Abstract

This article examines the theoretical connections between identity and linked fate, extending the latter concept across three countries and four types of (potential) identity groups. This belief, that what happens to one's ethnic group, religious group, region, or class shapes one's own life chances, is an understudied middle ground between ideational and material drivers of political attitudes. The study uses experimental and observational analyses to show that the strength of individuals' beliefs in linked fate and that belief's consequences vary in systematic and predictable ways. From the very material effect of labor market uncertainty to the highly ideational effect of regional identity, linked fate is a cognitive bridge between two very different kinds of social–psychological experiences that can (and should) be applied across a wide range of countries and groups.

Keywords

public opinionlinked fateethnicityregionalismclassredistribution

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Type
Article
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British Journal of Political Science , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , July 2021 , pp. 1119 - 1137
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

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