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Crowd psychology and the politics of co-production: Social control, democratic order and the consequences of theory.

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Τίτλος: Crowd psychology and the politics of co-production: Social control, democratic order and the consequences of theory.
Συγγραφείς: Stott C; The Open University Law School, Milton Keynes, UK.
Πηγή: The British journal of social psychology [Br J Soc Psychol] 2026 Apr; Vol. 65 (2), pp. e70065.
Τύπος έκδοσης: Journal Article; Historical Article
Γλώσσα: English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού: Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8105534 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8309 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01446665 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Soc Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: Letchworth Herts : British Psychological Society
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): Crowding*/psychology , Psychology, Social*/history , Mass Behavior* , Social Theory*, Politics ; Social Control, Formal ; Humans ; Democracy
Περίληψη: Social psychology has long claimed neutrality in its explanations of collective behaviour, yet its foundational theories of crowds have repeatedly been co-produced with institutions of authority and mobilized in the reactionary governance of social order. This article challenges the discipline's familiar origin myth-centred on benign laboratory demonstrations of social influence-by re-situating crowd psychology as one of social psychology's earliest and most politically consequential points of emergence. From nineteenth-century crowd theory, through mid-twentieth-century de-individuation research, to contemporary public-order doctrine, assumptions about the inherent irrationality and danger of collective action have been repeatedly reformulated in scientific form, their persistence reflecting institutional and ideological fit rather than explanatory adequacy. Against this background, the article repositions the Social Identity Approach and the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM) not merely as theoretical corrections, but as a reorientation of how psychological knowledge is produced, authorized and used. Drawing on ethnographic participatory action research and sustained engagement with policing institutions in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, it conceptualizes collective behaviour as interactional and normatively organized, with policing practices constitutive of crowd dynamics rather than external to them. The article argues that co-production is not a methodological innovation but a historically persistent condition of social psychology and that the ESIM represents a distinctive attempt to govern this condition reflexively by redirecting psychological knowledge towards legitimacy, restraint and the facilitation of democratic rights. The broader implication is that social psychology cannot plausibly claim political neutrality: its concepts travel into institutions and practices, shaping how collective action is anticipated, governed and policed.
(© 2026 The Author(s). British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)
References: J Abnorm Psychol. 1963 Oct;67:371-8. (PMID: 14049516)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2001 Mar;40(Pt 1):1-21. (PMID: 11329829)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2013 Jun;52(2):290-309. (PMID: 22007756)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2001 Sep;40(Pt 3):359-84. (PMID: 11593939)
Annu Rev Psychol. 2026 Jan;77(1):339-364. (PMID: 40763250)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2000 Dec;39 Pt 4:579-604. (PMID: 11190686)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2015 Mar;54(1):55-83. (PMID: 25196821)
Am Psychol. 2019 Oct;74(7):809-822. (PMID: 31380665)
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1979 Sep;37(9):1532-8. (PMID: 501521)
J Abnorm Psychol. 1952 Apr;47(2 Suppl.):382-9. (PMID: 14937978)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2011 Mar;50(Pt 1):163-9. (PMID: 21366617)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2024 Jan;63(1):3-19. (PMID: 37602507)
Science. 1965 Jul 16;149(3681):269-74. (PMID: 14300526)
Br J Soc Psychol. 2006 Mar;45(Pt 1):1-40; discussion 47-53. (PMID: 16573869)
Public Underst Sci. 2017 Jan;26(1):2-14. (PMID: 27036665)
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: co‐production; crowd psychology; participatory action research; public order policing; social identity approach
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260313 Date Completed: 20260313 Latest Revision: 20260813
Update Code: 20260813
PubMed Central ID: PMC12982649
DOI: 10.1111/bjso.70065
PMID: 41820798
Βάση Δεδομένων: MEDLINE
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  Data: Crowd psychology and the politics of co-production: Social control, democratic order and the consequences of theory.
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  Data: Social psychology has long claimed neutrality in its explanations of collective behaviour, yet its foundational theories of crowds have repeatedly been co-produced with institutions of authority and mobilized in the reactionary governance of social order. This article challenges the discipline&#39;s familiar origin myth-centred on benign laboratory demonstrations of social influence-by re-situating crowd psychology as one of social psychology&#39;s earliest and most politically consequential points of emergence. From nineteenth-century crowd theory, through mid-twentieth-century de-individuation research, to contemporary public-order doctrine, assumptions about the inherent irrationality and danger of collective action have been repeatedly reformulated in scientific form, their persistence reflecting institutional and ideological fit rather than explanatory adequacy. Against this background, the article repositions the Social Identity Approach and the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM) not merely as theoretical corrections, but as a reorientation of how psychological knowledge is produced, authorized and used. Drawing on ethnographic participatory action research and sustained engagement with policing institutions in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, it conceptualizes collective behaviour as interactional and normatively organized, with policing practices constitutive of crowd dynamics rather than external to them. The article argues that co-production is not a methodological innovation but a historically persistent condition of social psychology and that the ESIM represents a distinctive attempt to govern this condition reflexively by redirecting psychological knowledge towards legitimacy, restraint and the facilitation of democratic rights. The broader implication is that social psychology cannot plausibly claim political neutrality: its concepts travel into institutions and practices, shaping how collective action is anticipated, governed and policed.&lt;br /&gt; (&#169; 2026 The Author(s). British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)
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  Data: J Abnorm Psychol. 1963 Oct;67:371-8. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2214049516%22&quot;&gt;14049516)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2001 Mar;40(Pt 1):1-21. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2211329829%22&quot;&gt;11329829)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2013 Jun;52(2):290-309. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2222007756%22&quot;&gt;22007756)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2001 Sep;40(Pt 3):359-84. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2211593939%22&quot;&gt;11593939)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Annu Rev Psychol. 2026 Jan;77(1):339-364. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2240763250%22&quot;&gt;40763250)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2000 Dec;39 Pt 4:579-604. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2211190686%22&quot;&gt;11190686)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2015 Mar;54(1):55-83. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2225196821%22&quot;&gt;25196821)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Am Psychol. 2019 Oct;74(7):809-822. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2231380665%22&quot;&gt;31380665)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;J Pers Soc Psychol. 1979 Sep;37(9):1532-8. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%22501521%22&quot;&gt;501521)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;J Abnorm Psychol. 1952 Apr;47(2 Suppl.):382-9. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2214937978%22&quot;&gt;14937978)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2011 Mar;50(Pt 1):163-9. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2221366617%22&quot;&gt;21366617)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2024 Jan;63(1):3-19. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2237602507%22&quot;&gt;37602507)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Science. 1965 Jul 16;149(3681):269-74. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2214300526%22&quot;&gt;14300526)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Br J Soc Psychol. 2006 Mar;45(Pt 1):1-40; discussion 47-53. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2216573869%22&quot;&gt;16573869)&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Public Underst Sci. 2017 Jan;26(1):2-14. (PMID: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;PM&quot; term=&quot;%2227036665%22&quot;&gt;27036665)&lt;/searchLink&gt;
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