Questioning Identity

by Kath Woodward (Editor)

Our world is an increasingly unstable place, but current changes offer new opportunities as well as new challenges. This key volume provides an accessible exploration of identity as a contemporary concern in everyday life and as a key concept in social science. Drawing on work from a range of disciplines and focusing on the key social divisions of gender, class and nation, it shows how these challenges and opportunities work out in practice. What is really happening when people either individually or in groups identify with particular definitions of themselves or strike out to take up new identities? Do gender, class and ethnicity offer some stability and even certainty about who we are, or are they to be seen as limitations on our freedom to choose our own identities? Are we in the end bound by the social constraints and inequalities with which we started out?
This key text is essential reading for all students starting out in the social sciences and for anyone with an interest in the dilemmas of identity-making in contemporary society.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gender, Feminism, Psychology, Sociology

170 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 1999

Reviews

[Tamzin]

Yes, I have counted a textbook towards my Goodreads. In my defence, it was a leisure read and I read it all.

This was very interesting and easy to read whilst still helping me to explore these issues and definitely prompted a lot of questions within me. It was also super interesting to see how things have changed since the book was written (in 2000). Very helpful!

[Gavin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bleh. I gave radical sociologists a few chances to show me they had something to say, because - although the evidence is not good that they do - the consequences of ignoring them wrongly were awful.

[Angbeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

kinda basic, even for an introductory text. so much more that could've been discussed.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a couple of chapters for my sociology of identity unit. It's one of the simplest and well explained sociology writings I have had the opportunity to read. Definitely look forward to reading the rest of the book someday.

[Drew Pyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this as part of DD100 An introduction to the social sciences: understanding social change

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book to sum up the basic theories on identities to help with my dissertation. Did the job. Next step is to follow up with more in depth reading as I felt it was a bit too general