ABSTRACT
Identity is in fashion and everyone speaks and writes about it, but this general interest has not usually been accompanied by intellectual clarity about the various meanings of the concept and the contexts within which its has been developed. This chapter will try to throw some light into these issues. First, it will show the evolution of the concept from an individual soul in the tradition of modern philosophy to a socially constructed phenomenon in the sociological and social psychological tradition. Then it will explore the social character of identity and clarify the role of “otherness” in its construction. In the following two sections, it will address the distinction between individual and collective identities and the relationships between national identity and culture. This is followed by a discussion about three alternative theoretical traditions which could be adopted in the study of national identities, and perhaps, of other collective identities as well. Finally, the issue of identity and globalization is explored in some relevant aspects.
