Changing Identities to Change Society: Leadership as a Contest for Influence and Collective Mobilization

Abstract

It is difficult to think of major historical events that have changed our society without also thinking about those who spearheaded the change process. Leaders are so prominent in this context that they become the embodiments of movements for social change (Gusfield, 1966; Stewart, Denton, & Smith, 2012). Rhetorically, the promise of change features prominently in electoral campaigns of leadership contenders, with one example being Barack Obama’s message of hope and change “we can believe in.” Yet within the social psychology of social change, discussion of leadership is almost completely absent (Haslam & Reicher, 2012; Subašić, Reynolds, Reicher, & Klandermans, 2012; Subašić, Reynolds, & Turner, 2008; van Zomeren, Leach, & Spears, 2012).