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Identities: Never the Same Again?

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Abstract

In response to the suggestion of treating identity as a historically bound notion (Matusov and Smith Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 46, 2012), its genealogy is further explored. First establishing that identity has been understood in a particular personal way, and that genealogy might carry beyond this conception, as it also carries beyond the notions of class and adolescence that are used to contextualize identity. Then opting for treating historically bound notions as dynamic, studying them in the continuous interaction between conceptualization and practice, as processes and verbs rather than essences and substantives. Finally suggesting to dissociate identity from selfhood by looking at why, when and to whom we need to identify ourselves and also inverting the question: why and when do we ask others to identify themselves? After all, sameness and difference are two sides of a coin called identity, and what is looked at is a matter of how it is looked at.

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Notes

  1. In parallel in the research by Gee, as mentioned by Matusov and Smith, “the identity discourse may in fact be co-constructed between the University-based researcher and the high-school subjects” p. 14

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Conflict of interest

The author declares that the author has no conflict of interest.

Funding

The author receives a scholarship from CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) Argentina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Floor van Alphen

  2. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Ayacucho 555, C1026AAC, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Floor van Alphen

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  1. Floor van Alphen
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Correspondence to Floor van Alphen.

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van Alphen, F. Identities: Never the Same Again?. Integr. psych. behav. 46, 296–302 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-012-9201-3

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