ABSTRACT
There is a widely shared understanding that mass political identities are powerful social forces which define the makeup of and the relationship between large collectivities. They translate cognitive and normative concepts of group formation into dispositions of behaviour towards those who are considered to belong to the in-group as against a wide array of more or less significant others (Brewer 1999; Citrin & Sides 2004; Eisenstadt & Giesen 1995; Greenfield 1999; Wendt 1994). In his later writings Max Weber (1978) emphasised the ‘constructed’ nature of mass political identities in that the ‘concept of “nation” … cannot be stated in terms of empirical qualities common to those who count as members of the nation. [It] means above all that it is proper to expect from certain groups a specific sentiment of solidarity in the face of other groups' (Weber 1978, p. 922). He also maintained that the ‘concept “nation” directs us to political power. [It] refers us to a specific kind of pathos which is linked to the idea of a powerful political community [that] may already exist or may be desired’ (Weber 1978, p. 398).
