2. A Legitimate Alternative

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about the concept of a legitimate alternative which may be presented by a minority, focusing in particular on: (i) the benefit that a minority has in only having to influence the majority with their view, without necessarily having to take on responsibility for the actions proposed; (ii) a goal of a minority seeking to influence being to bring its issue to topicality amongst the majority, such that it must be addressed; (iii) a real-world example being the Black Lives Matter protests, where a minority have created a salient issue through widespread and impactful protests; (iv) the phenomenon, via social identity theory, that groups converge around common ideas; (v) the ‘danger’ that a minority poses to a majority, by eroding the cohesion between members of that majority.

Course

In this course, Professor Gordon Sammut (London School of Economics) explores minority influence. In the first lecture, we think about contrasting the influence of a minority to that of a lone individual. In the second lecture, we think about the concept of a minority presenting a legitimate alternative to the current way of thinking/acting. In the third lecture, we think about some minority influence processes, including three strategies of consistency, commitment, and flexibility. Next, we think about some key experimental evidence for minority influence. In the fifth and final lecture, we think about some ways in which majority and minority influence may or may not be differentiated.

Lecturer

Professor Gordon Sammut is a visiting fellow in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Professor Sammut’s research interests are in intercultural and intergroup relations, the theory of social representations and modalities of social influence. Some of Professor Sammut’s recent publications include 'The Psychology of social Influence: Modes and Modalities of Shifting Common Sense' (2021) and '‘Social Re-presentation for…’: An Action-Oriented Formula for Intergroup Relations Research' (2020).