Identity
A Reader
- Paul du Gay - Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
- Jessica Evans - The Open University
- Peter Redman - The Open University
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 D[ac]errida, 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, Am[gr]elie Okensberg Rorty, Jacqueline Rose, Nikolas Rose, Michael Rustin, Kaja Silverman, Max Weber, D W Winnicott
`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."
too peripheral to the aims of the course. This changed in development
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.
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.
Paul du Gay has excelled himself in presenting this interesting volume. He draws from writers in many disciples such as Sociology and Psychology to illuminate what 'Identity' means. I especially enjoyed Stuart Hall's contribution. This book is essential to anyone wishing to consider identity as a concept academically.
This edited book offers critical debate towards the contested concept of identity. It provides students with a number of positions in which they can use to critically develop their ideas on the subject.
An excellent baseline text with many examples provided on the complexity of how identity manifests
A very valuable text - key themes located within 3 parts. From language, ideology and discourse to identity, sociology & history
Great selection of fundamental material and key texts to the realms of \identity\"."
