Social Identity (Key Ideas)

Without social identity there is no human world. Without frameworks of similarity and difference, people would be unable to relate to each other in a consistent and meaningful fashion. In the second edition of this highly successful text, Richard Jenkins develops his argument that identity is both individual and collective, and should therefore be considered within one analytic framework. Using the work of major social theorists, such as Mead Goffman and Barthes, to explore the experience of identity in everyday life, Jenkins considers a range of different issues, including:

* embodiment
* categorization and boundaries
* the institutionalizing of identities
* identity and modernity.

Written in an open and student-friendly style throughout, this multidisciplinary text has been thoroughly revised and updated, and is essential reading for all students interested in the concept of identity in the contemporary world.

Richard Jenkins is Professor of Sociology at the University of Sheffield and the author of numerous books including Pierre Bourdieu (Routledge 1992). His research interests include the transition to adulthood, ethnicity and racism, nationalism, informal economic activity, the social lives of people with learning difficulties, and modern supernatural and witchcraft beliefs. At the moment he is developing these interests in theoretical and ethnographic explorations of the social construction and experience of 'collectivity', on the one hand, and enchantments in the modern world, on the other.