ABSTRACT
The entry of the concept of identity into the realm of history and contemporary social sciences presents numerous facets which here it is impossible to summarize in a few words. National identity, once naturalized, provided a secure mooring for individual subjectivity and a safe haven for collective experience. Thanks to a massive effort at naturalization carried out with a huge expenditure of effort by states, national identity was considered as an essential and undisputed component of the social and historical landscape. In fact, the notion of identity initially emerged from thinking about the 'identity crisis' of youth. More recently, 'identity politics' has also come under attack from an influential economist, Amartya Sen, who pointed out the 'communitarian' aspect underlying the subject of 'identity politics' threatens to fragment a political community and to transform it into a federation of differing identities.
