Sociological & historical perspectives on identities
Session 1: introduction
Polarization: different options, difference groups of people: extreme left or right.
Aim of this course:
1. Identify different sociological concepts and theories on identities.
2. Explain how class, ethnicity, and gender are socially constructed.
3. Understand the differences between essentialist and constructivist understandings of
nationhood.
4. Illustrate how identity categories are intertwined with power.
5. Use concepts in class to critically interpret current debates in society dealing with
identity.
6. Write a literature review on the topic of identities.
Skills: more emphasis on applying than on reproducing knowledge.
Yes things might become repetitive.
Literature review:
Topic: there need to be a sociological approach.
So what do we actually know about this topic.
It should lead to novel research questions.
What are the mechanisms, why do different studies have different findings?
Result of literature review is RQ with testable hypotheses. (“How can we explain that…?”)
Search of literature: web of science, google scholar, library repository.
Write (one paragraph = one argument) (You should be able to summarize each paragraph in
one sentence).
Conclude with ‘avenues for future research’.
Refine if necessary, and search more literature in function of: compare ideas, combine views,
contrast theories, explanations, hypotheses, argumentations, analyses, findings, conclusions
from selected studies. Evaluate, synthesize, integrate, combine, connect different studies.
Why a sociology course on identity (examples looked at):
(1) Poetin and Ursula both saying Ukraine belong to them (Poetin: they have the same
language, history, etc. Ursula: they are part of Europe).
(2) Different flags hang out (Palestine and football flag).
(3) Motion by member Eerdmans
(4) Rules about English lectures could become even stricter.
(5) Higher-educated look more at each other than lower educated.
(6) Identity is a major freedom that seems to be jeopardized today.
Thoughts from Bauman (2001)
Individualization – identity: a given -> a task.
“Place in society”: zuhanden -> vorhanden.
Liquid modernity: individuals placement and places “are melting fast” -> heavy
discussion on this.
“Identity sprouts on the graveyard of communities, but flourishes thanks to its
promise to resurrect the dead.”
, “Identity itself is a social and collective process and not, as traditions would have it, a
unique and individual possession.” (Lawler, 2014).
Thoughts from Goffman (in Lawler, 2014)
Personal identity – which distinguishes an individual from all others. (Unique
character of a person).
Social identity – categorizing persons and complement of attributes. (Categorical
identity, because of their membership).
Ego (‘felt’) identity – subjective sense of knowing who we are. (Believe ourselves to
be, persons think of themselves as a person).
What misconceptions about identity do you see today?
A main problem is that identity tends to be conceived and presented, mainly by politicians,
as something that is substantial as something objective that you either have or do not have.
In reality, one’s identity is the result of a threefold process.
One step is someone’s self-perception, a feeling of being or belonging.
Then there is the step of presenting oneself to others as being that someone.
A third step is designation: being seen by others as being that someone.
Self-perception, presentation, designation: this combination builds an identity. It’s
something that you produce through interactions. As such it is a wonderful intellectual tool
to understand actual experience, distorted, it may be a very bad political argument.
Goffman: choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mask may become
your face.
The relevance of the concept identification
Identifying and dis-identifying.
The relevance of symbolic boundaries.
A recurrent finding is that no one’s objective status, but rather the subjective interpretation
thereof has strong influences on certain outcomes, such as one’s political preferences. E.g.
people based on their material circumstances being underclass are more likely to vote for
rightwing parties if they consider themselves member of a higher class. With what term can
we describe this phenomenon? -> Thomas theorem.
Lecture 2
On identities:
Distinction personal identity & social identity
Personal identity – who we are.
Social identity – what groups we belong to.
Ego identity – subjective sense of knowing who we are.
One’s identity is influenced by one’s groups memberships, i.e. social identity.
People strive to maintain a positive social identity.
Favorable comparison between ingroup and relevant outgroups – ingroup bias.
You are part of different groups.
Something you favor groups over groups.
,Cultural capital: comprises the social assests of a person (education, intellect, style of speech,
style of dress, social capital, etc.) that promote social mobility in a stratified society.
Social identity theory: processes
1. Social categorization: process through which we group individuals based upon social
information. (Big three: sex, race and age), categorized.
2. Social comparison: process involves people coming to know themselves by evaluating
their attitudes, abilities and traits in comparison with others.
3. Social identification: refers to the way that people self-concepts are based on their
membership in social groups.
Unsatisfactory identity?
Leave group
Social creativity: allows people to maintain or achieve a positive social identity
through re-interpreting intergroup relations.
Collective action
Inplications: in-group love.
Examples: I Amsterdam (taking it a way, because it represented to much I), Antwerpen: ‘t
stad is van iedereen.
Strong love within a group.
Implications: outgroup hate.
Attachment to the ingroup was found in all the groups studied. But this was not related in
any simple way (…) to outgroup attitudes and intergroup differentiation.
Example: violence erupts in Dortmund as Dutch hooligans target England ahead of Euros
semi-final.
(non-religious neighbors next door to a religious community centrum)
The attitude of the groups differs from the ingroup norms (they are part of the group but, the
groups doesn’t want to be associated with them).
How to explain this in social identity terms?
Example: what impact could Taylor Swift really have on the US election? – how rolmodels
influences your behavior.
Application to student life:
Dutch government concerned about drug use among university students.
The set-up of the study:
Sample = 2,336 of undergraduate students, N =620
Dependent variable = alcohol consumption (drink per occasion)
Independent variable = acceptance of heavy drinking.
Independent variable = identifying with
(a) Friends
(b) College peers
(c) Members of Geek associations
, What do we make of table 2?
In the table the minus and the stars are important.
The stars says how significant it is.
What do we learn from table 4?
Making the transition to intergroup relations
Deepening insights from sociological themes
Realistic group conflict theory
In the presence of a sizeable outgroup, competition over scarce resources will
increase outgroup hostility.
What kind of scarce resources can you think of?
Session 1: introduction
Polarization: different options, difference groups of people: extreme left or right.
Aim of this course:
1. Identify different sociological concepts and theories on identities.
2. Explain how class, ethnicity, and gender are socially constructed.
3. Understand the differences between essentialist and constructivist understandings of
nationhood.
4. Illustrate how identity categories are intertwined with power.
5. Use concepts in class to critically interpret current debates in society dealing with
identity.
6. Write a literature review on the topic of identities.
Skills: more emphasis on applying than on reproducing knowledge.
Yes things might become repetitive.
Literature review:
Topic: there need to be a sociological approach.
So what do we actually know about this topic.
It should lead to novel research questions.
What are the mechanisms, why do different studies have different findings?
Result of literature review is RQ with testable hypotheses. (“How can we explain that…?”)
Search of literature: web of science, google scholar, library repository.
Write (one paragraph = one argument) (You should be able to summarize each paragraph in
one sentence).
Conclude with ‘avenues for future research’.
Refine if necessary, and search more literature in function of: compare ideas, combine views,
contrast theories, explanations, hypotheses, argumentations, analyses, findings, conclusions
from selected studies. Evaluate, synthesize, integrate, combine, connect different studies.
Why a sociology course on identity (examples looked at):
(1) Poetin and Ursula both saying Ukraine belong to them (Poetin: they have the same
language, history, etc. Ursula: they are part of Europe).
(2) Different flags hang out (Palestine and football flag).
(3) Motion by member Eerdmans
(4) Rules about English lectures could become even stricter.
(5) Higher-educated look more at each other than lower educated.
(6) Identity is a major freedom that seems to be jeopardized today.
Thoughts from Bauman (2001)
Individualization – identity: a given -> a task.
“Place in society”: zuhanden -> vorhanden.
Liquid modernity: individuals placement and places “are melting fast” -> heavy
discussion on this.
“Identity sprouts on the graveyard of communities, but flourishes thanks to its
promise to resurrect the dead.”
, “Identity itself is a social and collective process and not, as traditions would have it, a
unique and individual possession.” (Lawler, 2014).
Thoughts from Goffman (in Lawler, 2014)
Personal identity – which distinguishes an individual from all others. (Unique
character of a person).
Social identity – categorizing persons and complement of attributes. (Categorical
identity, because of their membership).
Ego (‘felt’) identity – subjective sense of knowing who we are. (Believe ourselves to
be, persons think of themselves as a person).
What misconceptions about identity do you see today?
A main problem is that identity tends to be conceived and presented, mainly by politicians,
as something that is substantial as something objective that you either have or do not have.
In reality, one’s identity is the result of a threefold process.
One step is someone’s self-perception, a feeling of being or belonging.
Then there is the step of presenting oneself to others as being that someone.
A third step is designation: being seen by others as being that someone.
Self-perception, presentation, designation: this combination builds an identity. It’s
something that you produce through interactions. As such it is a wonderful intellectual tool
to understand actual experience, distorted, it may be a very bad political argument.
Goffman: choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mask may become
your face.
The relevance of the concept identification
Identifying and dis-identifying.
The relevance of symbolic boundaries.
A recurrent finding is that no one’s objective status, but rather the subjective interpretation
thereof has strong influences on certain outcomes, such as one’s political preferences. E.g.
people based on their material circumstances being underclass are more likely to vote for
rightwing parties if they consider themselves member of a higher class. With what term can
we describe this phenomenon? -> Thomas theorem.
Lecture 2
On identities:
Distinction personal identity & social identity
Personal identity – who we are.
Social identity – what groups we belong to.
Ego identity – subjective sense of knowing who we are.
One’s identity is influenced by one’s groups memberships, i.e. social identity.
People strive to maintain a positive social identity.
Favorable comparison between ingroup and relevant outgroups – ingroup bias.
You are part of different groups.
Something you favor groups over groups.
,Cultural capital: comprises the social assests of a person (education, intellect, style of speech,
style of dress, social capital, etc.) that promote social mobility in a stratified society.
Social identity theory: processes
1. Social categorization: process through which we group individuals based upon social
information. (Big three: sex, race and age), categorized.
2. Social comparison: process involves people coming to know themselves by evaluating
their attitudes, abilities and traits in comparison with others.
3. Social identification: refers to the way that people self-concepts are based on their
membership in social groups.
Unsatisfactory identity?
Leave group
Social creativity: allows people to maintain or achieve a positive social identity
through re-interpreting intergroup relations.
Collective action
Inplications: in-group love.
Examples: I Amsterdam (taking it a way, because it represented to much I), Antwerpen: ‘t
stad is van iedereen.
Strong love within a group.
Implications: outgroup hate.
Attachment to the ingroup was found in all the groups studied. But this was not related in
any simple way (…) to outgroup attitudes and intergroup differentiation.
Example: violence erupts in Dortmund as Dutch hooligans target England ahead of Euros
semi-final.
(non-religious neighbors next door to a religious community centrum)
The attitude of the groups differs from the ingroup norms (they are part of the group but, the
groups doesn’t want to be associated with them).
How to explain this in social identity terms?
Example: what impact could Taylor Swift really have on the US election? – how rolmodels
influences your behavior.
Application to student life:
Dutch government concerned about drug use among university students.
The set-up of the study:
Sample = 2,336 of undergraduate students, N =620
Dependent variable = alcohol consumption (drink per occasion)
Independent variable = acceptance of heavy drinking.
Independent variable = identifying with
(a) Friends
(b) College peers
(c) Members of Geek associations
, What do we make of table 2?
In the table the minus and the stars are important.
The stars says how significant it is.
What do we learn from table 4?
Making the transition to intergroup relations
Deepening insights from sociological themes
Realistic group conflict theory
In the presence of a sizeable outgroup, competition over scarce resources will
increase outgroup hostility.
What kind of scarce resources can you think of?
