Identity in the 21st Century

This course is about identity in the 21st century. While not ignoring the long history of identity as a concept and construct, it focuses primarily on phenomena and events of the past five decades and their impact on the way we live now: how we inhabit and are ascribed identities that are gendered, racialized, sexualized, inflected by nationalism, mediated by age and so on, and how we are situated in terms of class. It is also concerned with meta issues such as (1) how the construct identity articulates with notions of self and subjectivity and belonging; (2) the impact of technology on the construction of identity; (3) intersectionality, as the way in which gender, race, sexuality and class overlap and interrelate in the systemic oppression and exploitation experienced by people not in positions of power; and (4) the interrelationship between social structures and individual agency in the shaping of identities in fields of social activity. Finally, the course will explore ways of researching identity, examining how Positioning Theory might be embellished so as to capture the myriad issues at work in the ongoing construction of identity. The course is appropriate for students interested in identity across of range of social sciences and humanities disciplines.