Rediscovering Social Identity

This book contains the original papers that founded the twin theories of social identity and self-categorization, supplemented with new contributions reflecting on past, current, and future developments in social identity.

This reader brings together the founding texts of the "Social Identity Approach" - a set of concepts, ideas, and principles contained in Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorization Theory. This approach originated in social psychology and is increasingly part of the standard curriculum in communication and media studies, organizations and management, sociology, education, and politics. Originally published in the 1970s and 1980s by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, in a wide variety of books and journals, many of these articles have become citation classics, and for good reason: they have lost none of their inspirational quality. The depth and scope of their analysis is unrivalled, and there can be no doubt that the themes they address, such as intergroup conflict, diversity, stereotyping and social influence, are as relevant today as they ever were.