Wayne H. Brekhus - The Sociology of Identity

1 Cover

2 Title Page The Sociology of Identity Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility Wayne H. Brekhus polity

3 Copyright Copyright © Wayne H. Brekhus 2020 The right of Wayne H. Brekhus to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2020 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3482-1 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Brekhus, Wayne, author. Title: The sociology of identity : authenticity, multidimensionality, and mobility / Wayne H. Brekhus. Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A lively exploration of the self through the social”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2020012852 (print) | LCCN 2020012853 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509534807 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509534814 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509534821 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Group identity. | Identity (Psychology)--Social aspects. Classification: LCC HM753 .B74 2020 (print) | LCC HM753 (ebook) | DDC 305--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012852 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012853 The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com .

4 Acknowledgments Acknowledgments I would like to thank Jonathan Skerrett at Polity for encouraging this project and for his supportive advice throughout the process, from idea to proposal to publication. I am also grateful to the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions on a first draft of the manuscript. I thank Manuela Tecusan for her very attentive and thorough copy-editing of the manuscript. Eviatar Zerubavel’s passion for thinking about big topics in analytically creative ways continues to inspire my own thinking. I am grateful for his ongoing enthusiasm and intellectual guidance. I thank Lorenzo Sabetta for the many stimulating conversations we have had on issues related to identity and the unmarked. He came from Italy to study with me for a year, as a postdoctoral fellow, and I am indebted to him for our friendship. I also thank Jay Gubrium for our many interesting discussions about identity and for his encouragement as a colleague. I thank my wife Rachel, who has helped me think through ideas, has read through and commented on drafts and revisions, and has been a tremendous source of intellectual and moral support.

5 Introduction What Is Identity? Cognitive Sociology Meets Symbolic Interactionism: Social Pattern Analysis of Identity Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility Why Study Identity in Sociology? About the Book

6 1 Sociological Approaches to Identity Symbolic Interactionism Goffman’s Dramaturgy: Identity as Strategic Performance Bourdieu’s Habits and Dispositional Identities Feminist Social Standpoint Theories and Intersectional Analyses Fluid, Fragmented, Flexible, and Depthless Identities: Modernity and Postmodernity Theories Cultural Sociology: Culture and Cognition and Symbolic Moral Boundary Theories Varying Theoretical Traditions, Unifying Themes

7 2 Beyond the Individual: Collective Identities Nations as Identity Communities Ethnic and Racial Category Collective Identities Social Movements as Collective Expressions of Group Agency and Identity Organizational Identities City and Neighborhood Identities Race, Class, Age, Gender, and Sexual Identities of Collective Forms such as Neighborhoods, Professions, and Industries

8 3 Performing Authenticity: Negotiating the Symbolic Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion Self-Authenticity versus Collective Authenticity Doing versus Being: Identity Duration and Authenticity Authenticating National, Ethnic, and Racial Identities Authenticity in Organization and Place Identities

9 4 Multidimensionality, Intersectionality, and Power: Identity and Social Inequalities Intersectionality and Multidimensionality: Challenges to Non-Inclusive Universalization Marked and Unmarked: Accented Stigma, Hidden Privilege, and the Cognitive Politics of Social Identity Deploying Markedness–Unmarkedness and Multidimensionality in Social Interaction Privilege, Identity, and Exclusion: Bullying and the Interactional Reproduction of Social Inequalities Markedness–Unmarkedness and Intersectionality in Regional Identities Globalization, Modernity, and the Multiply Influenced and Networked Character of Contemporary Identities

10 5 Mobility and Fluidity: The Omni-Contextual Nature of Identity Identity Mobility: Identity Currencies and Identity Contexts Identity Commuting: Chameleons, Nocturnal Selves, and Micro-Temporal Identity Movements Temporal and Spatial Bracketing Identity Mobility and Place: Local Identity Cultures and How Places Make Us and How We Make Places Identity and Time: Long-Term Identity Shifts, Migrations, and Transformations Collective Ethnic and Racial Fluidity

11 Conclusion Navigating Authenticities in Relation to Multidimensionality and Mobility Multidimensionality and Fluidity Complicate Group and Place Identities Identity and Marginality: Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility in Marginality Management Identity and Privilege: Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility in Privilege Management Identity Play and Provisional Identities: Connecting Mobility with Multidimensionality and Authenticity Key Areas for Future Research in Identity Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility Analyzing Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility in Your Own Lives

12 References

13 Index

14 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Table of Contents

3 Title Page The Sociology of Identity Authenticity, Multidimensionality, and Mobility Wayne H. Brekhus polity

4 Copyright Copyright © Wayne H. Brekhus 2020 The right of Wayne H. Brekhus to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2020 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3482-1 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Brekhus, Wayne, author. Title: The sociology of identity : authenticity, multidimensionality, and mobility / Wayne H.