Group consciousness (political science)

Group consciousness in political science refers to the phenomenon in which members within a social identity group become aware of how their group identification impacts their position in society, and therefore come together to pursue collective action to advocate for their shared interests. Group consciousness requires two necessary preconditions: group membership, and group identification. Group membership is the 'objective' belonging within the group, while identification refers to the subjective psychological importance of the group to the member. Group consciousness has been studied, for example, among women, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Muslim Americans.