Ascribed identities in the global era: a complex approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the process of identity-building, wherein I aim to provide theoretical tools, other than social-psychology (especially symbolic interactionism), to help analyze the said process. Within the epistemic framework of complexity theories, I demonstrate that historical sociology provides sufficient background for understanding contemporary identity phenomena from a macro-sociological perspective. This enables the assessment of how, in the current scenario, identity dynamics can affect global phenomena and how the global social structure can affect identity-building processes worldwide. The notion of ascribed identities is, thus, crucial. In this study, I describe modernisation as a process where the ascribed characteristics (gender, religion, ethnicity) progressively lose their function of rigidly defining a person's identity, on behalf of personal achievements. Within this framework, I describe the current re-strengthening of ascribed identities and assess, through this description, which phase of the modernisation process is nowadays taking place.