You are here

Identity
Share
Share

Identity
A Reader

First Edition
Edited by:

December 2000 | 400 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Identity provides an essential resource of key statements drawn from cultural studies, sociology, and psychoanalytic theory, and includes three editorial essays, which place the readings in their theoretical and historical context. Divided into three parts: Language, Ideology and Discourse; Psychoanalysis and Psycho-Social Relations; and Identity, Sociology and History, this book invites readers to compare and contrast cultural studies approaches with psychoanalytic and historical and sociological accounts of identity formation. The Identity Reader will be an essential sourcebook for students of cultural studies, gender studies, social psychology, and sociology. The key statements are from the work of: Louis Althusser, Jessica Benjamin, Emile Benveniste, Homi K Bhabha, Pierre Bourdieu, Judith Butler, Ian Craib, Jacques Dérrida, Norbert Elias, Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Anthony Giddens, Stuart Hall, Pierre Hadot, Melanie Klein, Jacques Lacan, Christopher Lasch, Isabel Menzies, Lyth, T H Marshall, Marcel Mauss, Amèlie Okensberg Rorty, Jacqueline Rose, Nikolas Rose, Michael Rustin, Kaja Silverman, Max Weber, D W Winnicott

Paul du Gay, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman
General Introduction
 
PART ONE: THE SUBJECT OF LANGUAGE, IDEOLOGY AND DISCOURSE
Peter Redman
Introduction
Stuart Hall
Who Needs `Identity'?
Louis Althusser
Ideology Interpellates Individuals as Subjects
Emile Benveniste
Subjectivity in Language
Jacques Lacan
The Mirror Stage
Jacqueline Rose
Feminine Sexuality
Julia Kristeva
Revolution in Poetic Language
Kaja Silverman
Suture
The Cinematic Model

 
Jacques Derrida
Diff[ac]erance
Homi K Bhabha
Interrogating Identity
The Post Colonial Prerogative

 
Michel Foucault
Domain
Judith Butler
Critically Queer
 
PART TWO: PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOSOCIAL RELATIONS
Jessica Evans
Introduction
Melanie Klein
Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms
D W Winnicott
Mirror-Role of Mother and Family in Child Development
D W Winnicott
Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena
Isabel Menzies Lyth
Social Systems as a Defense against Anxiety
Michael Rustin
Psychoanalysis, Racism and Anti-Racism
Frantz Fanon
The Negro and Psychopathology
Christopher Lasch
The Narcissistic Personality of Our Time
Jessica Benjamin
The Oedipal Riddle
Anthony Giddens
The Trajectory of the Self
Ian Craib
What's Happening to Mourning?
 
PART THREE: IDENTITY/SOCIOLOGY/HISTORY
Paul du Gay
Introduction
Norbert Elias
Homo Clausus and the Civilizing Process
Pierre Bourdieu
The Biographical Illusion
T H Marshall
A Note on `Status'
Nikolas Rose
Identity, Genealogies, History
Marcel Mauss
A Category of the Human Mind
The Notion of 'Person'; The Notion of 'Self'

 
Max Weber
The Profession and Vocation of Politics
Michel Foucault
Introduction to `The Use of Pleasure'
Pierre Hadot
Reflections on the Idea of the `Cultivation of the Self'
Am[gr]elie Okensberg Rorty
Persons and Personae

`This ability to raise so many interesting themes and questions is precisely one of the strengths of this Reader. Another is a choice of contributions based on an historical perspective that enables us to trace some of the main threads in the debate over identity in a variety of disciplines in the last fifty years. In conclusion: an invaluable tool for scholars in the field' - Discourse & Society


" ‘Identity’ is one of the most overused but least considered terms in the lexicon of the contemporary humanities and social sciences. This volume brings together many of the key texts that will contribute to a more thoughtful understanding of the many issues involved in this elusive and deceptively difficult concept. The editors are not merely innocent anthologisers, however. They bring a sharp critical eye and a polemical editorial line to their task."

James Donald
Curtin University

this is a great resource for students to review and dip into gathering knowledge and discussion on the nature of identity in context

Mrs Imelda Hatton-Yeo
School of Public health & Clinical Sci, University of Central Lancashire
January 30, 2018

An excellent reader of key texts on Identity, but following a period of reflection I could not recommend it as a key text for my students within our current programme.

Mr Ian McGonagle
Faculty of Social Science, Lincoln University
May 12, 2015

The book is a great reader - but I found myself wishing there was more material outside the scope of psychoanalysis. I liked the psychoanalysis material, but the students were very keen to get to the last section of the book after spending much time on psychoanalytical material. The third year students also found the readings (esp Rose, Beneviste, etc) difficult. The addition of summaries and bullet points at the end of chapters would have helped them assimilate the material more easily.

Dr Derek Hook
Psychology Dept, Duquesne University
April 1, 2015

An excellent book covering several theorists such as Butler, Foucault, Winnicott and Derrida. Good for MA and EdD courses.

Ms Eva Mikuska
Deapartment of Childcare, Social Work and Social Care, University of Chichester
July 23, 2015

This is an outstanding and highly essential reader. One that both scholars and students can benefit from, from visual and media studies to cultural studies and even political communication.

Professor Beschara Karam
Department of Communicatin Science, University of South Africa
September 22, 2015

This book is an excellent source for a class on identity. I believe it is especially valuable for upper-level undergraduate courses or courses that are cross-listed between upper level undergraduates and graduate students.

Dr Edward Avery-Natale
Sociology Anthropology Dept, North Dakota State University
February 27, 2014

too peripheral to the aims of the course. This changed in development

Dr Andrew Whalley
School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London
October 30, 2013

This is a useful book for anyone studying this topic. Although niche, it does provide some good insights.

Mr Joe Fitzgerald
School of Business, Institute of Business & Technology
August 21, 2013