Introducing+Identity

"When we talk about national identity, cultural identity, or gender identity, for example, we imply that our identity is partly a matter of what we share with other people"

"Yet who I am (or who I think I am), varies according to who I am with, the social situations in which I find myself, and the motivations I may have at the time, although by no means entirely free to choose how I am defined."

"Individuals tend to conform to standardized definitions of the situation and of their individual role within it."

"Modern individuals have to constantly "self-reflexive" making decisions about what they should do and who they should be. The self becomes kind of a "project" that individuals have to work on: they have to create biographical "narratives" that will explain themselves to themselves, and hence sustain a coherent and consistent identity."

"The term "identity politics" refers primarily to activist social movements that have explicitly thought to challenge the process: they have struggled to resist oppression accounts of their identities constructed by others who hold power over them, and claim the right to self-determination. The most obvious aspects of this relate to "race," ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and disability; although the term "identity politics" is also often used in relation to forms of indiginous nationalism, religious groupings, (and indeed forms of "fundamentalism"), and so on." media type="youtube" key="yBAYiBoy43M" height="344" width="425" align="center"media type="youtube" key="Msfk_RI9E_w" height="344" width="425" align="center" media type="youtube" key="USxOoPu5a_g" height="344" width="425" align="center"