ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on Anthony Giddens's book Modernity and Self-Identity to explore the issue of self-identity for explaining the linkage between present-day reflexivity and change. It considers the search for self-identity a contemporary problem; a quest for an answer to one of the existential questions that surfaced with the erosion of taken-for-granted tradition. Saxenas exploration of Dalit politics, for instance, nicely illustrates how the success of grassroots activism results from a sensible utilization of online technology in strategies for mobilization and representation. Migrant transnationalism in digital spaces involves a contemplation of self-identity that is inseparable from the assessment of the practical potential of the Web as a system of information and communication which on one hand facilitates the reproduction of social, political, religious and cultural forms and on the other comprises an unprecedented instrumentarium for mixture and innovation. A belief in the economic potential of an imagined online community shows in Santos analysis of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Matters.