"This compelling look at identity and its implications contributes to understanding a broad range of topics, including culture, environment, sexuality, gender, and politics. Elliott (sociology, Flinders Univ., Australia) brings together essays addressing many of the complexities of identity, among them the challenge of defining identity and the distinction between individual self and social self. The volume begins with a complex but intriguing discussion of the existence of "pure" identity. This is followed by an informative review of the history of identity studies. Contributors present systematic evaluations of various relevant questions of identity, addressing history, significant contributors, major ideas, and directions for future research. This collection presents identity as a "riddle of life" that is important for understanding life yet impossible to truly decipher. The collection acknowledges identity as a topic that is at the core of all existence, studied by many yet still barely understood. The international group of contributors includes both established and rising scholars. This is an important addition to the literature. Summing Up: Highly recommended" - Choice Magazine
"This Routledge Handbook of Identity Studies deserves to be read by doctoral students in social sciences who will find in one single volume a diversified overview of the cutting-edge research on social identities; so far, this collective book has no equivalent in the French language." Yves Laberge, Ph.D., Recherches sociologiques et anthropologiques, 45-1 |
