ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the theoretical and political issues involved, concentrating on the notions of identity, ethnicity, and their specific implications for women. The notion of a generic woman functions in feminist thought much the way the notion of generic "man" has functioned in Western philosophy: it obscures the heterogeneity of women and cuts off examination of the significance of such heterogeneity for feminist theory and political activity. The study of identity formation in general and of ethnic identity in particular has preoccupied many social scientists and philosophers. All identity dimensions can, in specific social contexts, have higher or lower salience, but often the primordial components of one's identity provoke the most powerful emotions for the individual, through processes of identification which in extreme cases can blur individual and collective boundaries. Ethnic identity and often solidarity may occur either as a prerequisite for the group or as an effect of its material, political or ideological positionings.
