1 :: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
information technologies? What prospects the self as post-humanism radically
restructures the very definition of what it means to be human? How might identity
be configured in relation to autonomy and freedom in a world in which globalization
reigns supreme? These are just some of the pressing questions which arise for
theorists of identity today.
ORGANIZATION OF THE VOLUMES
This collection is designed to give both students and lecturers a sense of the social-
historical formation of identity studies, ranging from classical debates in philosophy
and social theory through to contemporary discussions in feminism, post-
structuralism, postmodernism and what is today broadly termed cultural studies or
theory. My central aim is a collection of principal texts that serve as both a guide and
a stimulus to readers engaged with the analysis and critique of identity.
A central claim of this work is that we can only adequately understand the concept of
identity if we engage with the classical philosophical and social-theoretical debates
which led to the emergence of the many different definitions of the topic. This,
necessarily, means an engagement with the complex history of identity studies.
Volume I, ‘Discovering the Subject’, examines identity in the framework of classical
social theory and philosophy, with particular attention to constitution of key
interpretations of human nature, personhood and subjectivity in the social sciences
and humanities. This volume traces the lineage of identity in various political,
philosophical, sociological and psychoanalytic sources – from the formulations of
Aristotle and Kant to the departures of Hegel and Freud. The purpose of this opening
volume is to underscore how social-historical forces and the role of language and
communication are critical to understandings – both lay and professional – of identity.
Volume II, ‘Theorizing Identity’, charts some of the fundamental conceptualizations of
identity in the social sciences and humanities, and underscores how these social-
theoretical interpretations have contributed to new forms of understanding for
personhood and subjectivity in the modern world. This volume includes, among others,
discussions concerning the constitution of human character, the role of language, the
complex links between identity and individualism, and the relation of self to society
more generally. Throughout I have tried to show that phenomena which are central to
the reproduction of modern societies – for example, power, technology and ideology –
are intricately interwoven with the production of identity, subjectivity and individuality.
Volume III, ‘Situating Identity’, is concerned in exploring some of the ways in which the
analysis and critique of identity has affected the daily lives of individuals in social,