Before the revolution: identity leadership, mobilisation, and state repression during and before the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia

Abstract

Previous leadership theories represented leaders as unique individuals who gain influence by manipulating the masses. This perspective has been challenged by the social identity
approach to leadership (Haslam et al., 2011/2020). However, past studies on identity leadership have primarily focused on how leaders use rhetoric to create a shared social identity with their followers (identity entrepreneurship), neglecting the performative means through which leaders also create a shared social identity (identity impresarioship). Additionally, the role of leadership in mobilising and organising collective action has been insufficiently explored, particularly in repressive regimes. This thesis employs a social psychological analysis to understand how leaders used the performative aspects of leadership, and how were these strategies linked to mobilisation and organisation of collective action in a repressive setting - ‘communist’ Czechoslovakia.

Through thematic analysis of interviews with opposition leaders (Studies 2, 3), I found that leaders creatively designed the performative aspects of collective events (identity impresarioship), part of which they also used to overcome the constraints of the repressive regime. These leaders designed collective action to be meaningful for participants and cocreated the movement with their followers, fostering conditions for engaged followership to emerge.

Part of this research involved examining how the dominant group (Czechoslovak Communist Party) demobilised leaders’ efforts. Discourse analysis of archival documents (Study 1)
showed that, besides visible preventative measures, the Party employed social-psychologicaltools to legitimise repression in their rhetoric. The rhetorical/ideological aspects of their talk and the institutional accountability management for potential accusations of acting repressively served as additional, subtle demobilisation strategies.

This thesis offers a deeper understanding of identity impresarioship, for instance, the leaders’roles in creating and attributing meaning to shared social identity via performative means,symbols, and collective rituals. These findings also enhance our understanding of leadership in repressive contexts – both the opposition and dominant group.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English