ABSTRACT

Identity has become a keyword in contemporary politics. Like any other keyword, it bears not one unitary meaning but a range of competing definitions and uses as different actors invest different meanings in one and the same sign. So, even if we are not sure about what “identity” really is, we can say that it acts as an essentially contested concept (see Gallie, 1963). 1 In this sense, whatever it is, identity becomes an issue when it is in crisis.