Identity and context
some issues in social theory
Keywords:
Identity, Social theory, Western modernity, individualAbstract
In this article, I examine the way in which the concept of identity is used in the social sciences, through the works of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, Anthony Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman, Stuart Hall, Henrietta Moore, and Richard Handler. W ith the exception of the first two, who discuss identity in general, the others have looked at identity configurations in the modern world and their theoretical implications. M y analysis tackles two issues: notions of the subject which underlie the discussion, in particular whether or not there is an essential basis to identities; and the degree to which this concept of the subject varies in time and space, especially its forms in the modern West
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References
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