october 2nd | journal 5
When thinking about collective identity and how it shapes collective agency, I think a lot about the concept of a common enemy uniting communities. I don't know why this idea stands out the most to me. I’ve come to understand collective identity as something far deeper than shared labels or surface-level similarity. I believe that "us vs. them" helps to build the "we". Shared stories and experiences shape how people relate to each other. When a group sees itself as intertwined, a different kind of courage emerges, one rooted in belonging rather than individual willpower. Reading about Latinx farmworkers in Vermont, I appreciated how their collective identity wasn’t built from theory but from lived experience (exploitation, resilience, cultural grounding). That alignment made space for collective agency to grow. It reminded me that people rarely mobilize from logic alone. We also move when something resonates emotionally, when we recognize ourselves in a shared struggle, shared happiness or shared hope. Identity can bec the quiet bonding agent behind political and social action.