Recent research suggests that ideology and collective identity are important factors shaping the behavior of movements committed to radically democratic self-governance and that a coherent ideology and clearly defined identity are necessary for movement success. Examining this hypothesis in the context of the Germany “autonomous” movement, this study finds that a contradiction in the movement's ideology around the meaning of autonomy has generated a deeply ambivalent identity and a resistance to ideological dogmatism, both of which have functioned to help sustain the movement. This suggests that sustaining collectivist democracy may require that a movement resist both ideological coherence and a clearly defined identity. Because ideologies often contain deep contradictions, action in countercultural movements is more than a simple reflection of the activists' ideals, mediated by situational constraints. Rather, such value-rational action is better understood as an iterative process by which ideological contradictions and ideologically-driven practices are repeatedly renegotiated and reproduced.
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