Module 2: Identity

Zurich, January 4/5, 2008

Organizer: Prof. Peter Finke, UniZh

Identity has become a key issue in anthropology and the social sciences in recent decades. The world of today seems exposed to an ever increasing number of ethnically based or legitimated conflicts and national secession movements challenging the existence of many of the modern nation states.
Anthropologists have explained the reason for the importance of ethnic and other group identities in a variety of ways. These often contradict public opinions and official policies about the nature of ethnicity and conflicts. Rather than being fixed, identities can be very fluid and adapted to changing circumstances.
And rather than being the reason for conflicts, ethnic identities may be strengthened or even created in the course of mutual discrimination. In the module, we will discuss the concept of identity and its relevance for anthropology. One problem in approaching the theme is the great variety of phenomena often subsumed within this category. It will be explored to what degree identity can be understood as a property of individual actors or a way to classify social groups of various kinds. Participants are expected to contribute to the module by reviewing their data in regard to the issues discussed. Experts invited for the module are Thomas Hylland Eriksen and Richard Jenkins.

Suggested reading
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland (2002), Ethnicity and Nationalism. Anthropological
Perspectives. London: Pluto Press.
Jenkins, Richard (1996), Social Identity. London, New York: Routledge.