Configuration Of Identity Research Articles

Kazakhstan\u2019s EU policies: a critical review of underlying motives and enabling factors

The article delves into Kazakhstan’s policies vis-à-vis the European Union, focusing on their driving motives and enabling conditions. Drawing upon published papers and, to a lesser degree, primary sources, the author argues that friendship with the EU largely serves the Kazakhstani elite as means of economic modernisation as well regime legitimation, perfectly fitting Kazakhstan’s dominant domestic discourse which portrays the country as Eurasian and its foreign policy—as multi-vector. The study also shows that Astana’s partnership with Brussels is to a large degree possible because the EU holds a simultaneous positive attitude to such partnership regardless Kazakhstan’s authoritarian regime. According to the article, such reflects the great instrumental value collaboration with Astana gives Brussels, the EU’s general inactivity on democracy promotion in Central Asia and Kazakhstan’s looking more pro-European and economically/politically advanced against the background of its post-Soviet and Central Asian autocratic fellows. The paper concludes by reflecting on the configuration of pragmatism and identity in Astana’s approach to the EU and discussing the peculiarities of the bloc’s power over Kazakhstan.

Arqueología de la ruptura colonial: mouros, chullpas, gentiles y abuelos en España, Bolivia y Chile en perspectiva comparada

This paper analyzes the impact of colonialism on the ways in which subaltern populationsestablish relations of sameness and otherness with their ancestors and with archaeologicalvestiges in their surroundings. From a perspective that questions the dominant dichotomousand structural interpretation that conceived the logic of otherness as a product of intrinsiccommunity dynamics, this study reveals the central role of historically specific powerrelations in the articulation of identity configurations. This is revealed in the comparativeanalysis of the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula, the Bolivian highlands, and theChilean Atacama region. The populations of the three regions present animistic beliefs inmouros, chullpas, gentiles and abuelos, which they associate with archaeological remains undera common logic. Starting with the Christian struggle against paganism in Europe and theextirpation of idolatry in America, this article demonstrates how enlightened modernity,nationalism and contemporary multiculturalism have led to different configurations ofpatterns of identity and alterity, as well as alternative notions of ancestry in each case.Archaeology has played a prominent role in these processes, subordinating local conceptionsof otherness and partaking in their heritagisation.

Locating the post-national activist: migration rights, civil society and the practice of post-nationalism

ABSTRACTTheorists of post-nationalism examine the (re)configuration of national identity, membership and rights. Yet while normative scholarship has conceptualized post-nationalism as an ongoing practice of discursive contestation over the role of national group membership in liberal democratic societies, more empirical studies have tended to overlook these features to predominantly focus instead on top-down legal and political institution-building as evidence of post-nationalism. In this article I argue in favour of an empirical conceptualization of post-nationalism which more effectively captures micro-level practices of discursive contestation. Specifically I posit that post-national activists, or actors engaging in post-national practices of contestation from within the state, are a key focus of analysis for scholars of post-nationalism. I develop this claim through the analysis of data collected with individuals working on civil society campaigns for migration rights in Europe, Australia and the USA who – I demonstrate – embody many of the characteristics of the post-national activist.

From eating identity to authentic selfhood: Identity transformation in eating disorder sufferers following psychotherapy

BackgroundThe following article illustrates the development of the identity configuration process of Chilean female patients with an eating disorder (ED) following successful psychotherapeutic treatment.MethodThis was a qualitative, descriptive study, which explored patients' subjective perspectives. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 20 female patients, and data were analysed according to procedures established by the Grounded Theory method.ResultsFour dimensions of identity were identified: (1) self‐image as idealised versus imperfect; (2) knowledge of one's inner world; (3) impulse control; and (4) life goals. Transcending these themes was the central notion of identity and a shift in this identity from someone who defines themselves by their eating disorder toward a more authentic and complex sense of self.ConclusionResults suggest that successful treatment facilitates the construction of an authentic identity, which includes developing a more realistic and complex understanding of themselves and their emotional and physical needs.

Ethnic, confessional and cultural patterns of regionalism in the post-Soviet Russia

This paper is focusing on the ethnic, confessional and cultural background of regionalism in Russia. On the one hand, the historically evolved spatial structures are considered; on the other hand, the emphasis is made on transformation processes of the Post-Soviet period. The analysis covers: 1) the historical framework of ethnic settlement and ethnic identity patterns in Russia and their dynamics at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries; 2) the linguistic diversity of the country and the linguistic division of the Russian Federation; 3) the spatial pattern of confessional groups in Russia; and 4) the phenomenon of regional/local identity as one of the key driving forces of regional development. The cultural space of Russia is characterized by mosaics of various regional and local communities; its transformation is still going on and entails the permanent genesis of new regional structures and clusters as well as some risks, tensions and threats. The horizontal socio-cultural differentiation of Russian space is based on huge discrepancies between various historical and cultural regions, their ethnic and regional diversity. The vertical, hierarchical differentiation of cultural space is predominantly characterized by the increasing stratification of various population groups within the Russian regions. The inherited spatial patterns predominate both in ethnic settlement structures and in configurations of regional identity and cultural distinctions. Nevertheless, changes in the cultural geographic pattern could also be observed in the investigated period. The growing share of titular ethnic groups in the total population of national republics of Russia, as well as their growing concentration within the corresponding national units were the main trends in ethnic-geographical redistribution of population in the Russian Federation between 1990 and 2016.

Plural Character and Versions of Configuration of Russian Youth Identity: Theoretical Framework and Empirical Studies

Plural Character and Versions of Configuration of Russian Youth Identity: Theoretical Framework and Empirical Studies

From Jalsah to Jalsā: Music, Identity, and (Gender) Transitioning at a Hījṛā Rite of Initiation

Abstract This article investigates the connections among music making, identity, and belonging within the context of a jalsā, a celebratory rite of initiation for a hījṛā (South Asian “third gender” individual) entering her gharānā (family). Drawing connections to Ali Jihad Racy’s (2004) analysis of ṭarab (ecstasy) performance in the West Asian jalsah (informal gathering), the article reveals how music making within the larger architecture of the jalsā—in particular, the liminal period in which the hījrā “passes through” to become nirvāṇ (liberated)—enables the visceral embodiment of values concerning hījṛā social transitioning and self-understanding. I argue that the discourses and performance practices involved in becoming hījṛā enact a strategic essentialism through the sanctification of different relational configurations of identity within gharānedar society. This gives shape to a symbolic representation about what it means to be hījṛā that is ambiguously cited, multiplicative, and materially unavailable for those from outside the community who seek to enter, define, or otherwise control it. This article is accompanied by a one-hour film (http://www.ethnomusicologyofthecloset.com/jalsa, password: pehchaan) that was edited to convey the physical and emotional sensation of a nirvāṇ hījṛā’s journey.

Curriculum interfaces at the undergraduation for the effectiveness of human rights education

The research work reported here aims to discuss the tensions that affect the identity configuration in the curricula in higher education, establishing dialogues among public policies, human rights and youth in the curriculum. The analysis, with an emphasis on human rights, contemplates reference of the policies allied to the arguments of Bobbio (2004); Candau et al. (2013), Eyng (2014) and Santos (2010), in dialogue with the students’ perceptions from 15 higher education courses, situate the epistemological and contemporary contradictions that subsidize the reflection on the defining forces of the faces of curriculum. The results of the study allow us to highlight the ambiguous fragility of the insertion of human rights education in the curricula, given the overwhelming strength of the indexes. The inclusion of human rights education in the Course Projects is still very punctual, more satisfying the requirement of the legal requirement than expressing a pedagogical conception. In this scenario, higher education reinforces more exclusion, inequality by the values of competition and individualism than inclusion through dialogue with equality and the difference which constitute the diversity that supposes the exercise of the values of dignity and solidarity.

Connecting identities through drawing: Relationships between identities in images drawn by immigrant students

Immigration is extremely stressful and has an impact on children’s identity construction. When immigrating, children must make sense of the changes they experience in order to develop a flexible and plural identity. Schools can foster this meaning-making process by promoting the creation of bridges between home and school social markers. These bridges allow movement between different aspects of students’ identity and account for multiple identity configurations. One way to promote connections between identities is to offer creative expression activities within classrooms. When drawing, children project their inner feelings onto images through symbols and identify to elements of their drawings, which contribute to their identity construction. In this paper, the authors rely on data obtained from immigrant children’s drawings and interviews to present three identity expression strategies put in place in their drawings: protective withdrawal on the identity of origin to allow movement between identities, mastery of globalized youth cultural identity and neutralization of identities. These strategies reveal the relationship between identities, particularly between the cultural identity of origin and that of the host culture. One strategy, the protective withdrawal on the identity of origin to allow movement between identities will be illustrated by the case of a young Chinese boy.

It’s About “Who Agrees With Whom When”: Exploring Group Consensus During Strategic Decision-Making

To date, strategic consensus research is mostly silent about the identity processes accompanying the dynamics of consensus and their joint influence on group behavior and outcomes. Applying the lenses of self-categorization and social identity theory to strategic consensus research, this paper examines the interaction between identity configurations (i.e., demographic faultlines) and particular distributions of strategic orientation within decision- making groups in their influencing information-processing behavior. We hypothesize, in particular, that 1) sharing a strategic orientation more with similar group members than dissimilar ones 2) the level of understanding of each other’s strategic orientation and 3) highly diverging orientation between two individuals from opposing faultline subgroups, crowd out positive effects of strong demographic faultlines on salient subgroupings. Panel data from 48 groups undertaking a strategic business simulation at a UK University provide support for some of our predi...

Cronopaisajes identitarios: del vecino al patriota. Lógicas de visibilidad y economía psíquica, siglos XVIII-XIX

En un cronopaisaje se discriminan por lo menos dos tipos de repertorios semiótico- culturales: prácticas colectivas que incorporan divisiones y categorizaciones valorativas del mundo social, y formas de construcción de la identidad social y del poder político a través de geografías simbólicas. Desde tal perspectiva, este artículo examina, en la Nueva Granada de la transición del siglo XVIII al XIX, la correlación entre las lógicas de visibilidad social y su consecuente configuración identitaria, entretejido regulador de una específica economía psíquica, de un régimen de tematización y producción del Yo.

AMALFITANO O LA ROSA ILIMITADA DE LOS VIENTOS: LA NACIÓN IMAGINARIA EN LOS SINSABORES DEL VERDADERO POLICÍA , DE ROBERTO BOLAÑO

The present study attempts to show that through the novel Los sinsabores del verdadero policia (2011), Roberto Bolano constructs an allegory of the cracks that are caused in the symbolic frame of global geography through the figure of its protagonist, Oscar Amalfitano. From this character in constant transit through other territories, the author shows clearly the diasporic situation of a subject that represents the conflict of individuals who cross borders established in the logic of the map drawn by the West, thus constituting a violation of the configuration of national identity itself. In this approach, the figure of Amalfitano as the subject that deconstructs the Eurocentric idea of wind rose and allows the appropriation of this notion to generate an almost archimboldiano game: the origin of the the unlimited wind rose .

Hannah Arendt: importancia del relato histórico y ficticio como vía para la reflexión ética y política

This article presents the importance given by Hannah Arendt to historical and fictional stories as a way for ethical and political reflection. It studies, firstly, how stories enable the configuration of identity, of both a man and a community, because the narrative allows to give meaning to the fragility and contingency of human actions. In second place, it analyzes how the narrative allows keeping actions in the memory so they are not forgotten. Finally, it studies how the follow-up of stories contributes for understanding of the human world and strengthening the faculty of judging, for overcoming solipsism, a necessary element for the exercise of an ethical and political conception based on the recognition of human plurality.

Мифологические аспекты современных конфигураций мальчишеской идентичности

Мифологические аспекты современных конфигураций мальчишеской идентичности

Multiple Identity Configurations: The Benefits of Focused Enhancement for Prosocial Behavior

This paper introduces a configurational approach to the study of multiple identities. Specifically, it examines how prosocial identity combines with collective and individualistic identities in conflicting and enhancing ways to affect prosocial behavior in organizational settings. We examine an unexplored intuition in the multiple identities literature that when all identities are enhancing (a mutual enhancement configuration), it will be best for prosocial outcomes. Our results show, however—across two field studies and two experiments—that enhancement between prosocial and collective identities (a focused enhancement configuration) results in the highest levels of prosocial behavior. Furthermore, we trace this result to the greater self-serving orientation activated in a mutual enhancement configuration, where one’s individualistic identity enhances one’s other identities. Our work demonstrates the value of a configurational approach to the study of multiple identities, and it challenges the assumption that a mutual enhancement configuration is always desirable. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1129 .

Identity at Risk: Students’ Identity Configuration in the Aftermath of Trauma

ABSTRACTTwo and a half years after the July 2011 massacre on the Norwegian island of Utøya, 68 of the adolescent survivors were interviewed about their everyday life at school. The interviews revealed changes in the interplay and counterplay between student identity and social identity when new identities connected to the massacre were introduced in the school arena. This dynamic has two prominent contradictory aspects: (1) the strong need to avoid being associated with the massacre, yet (2) they also experience a high degree of imposed external framing of identity configuration. This article investigates school as an arena where unwanted identity changes are played out. School emerges as an arena that can complicate the rehabilitation process by confirming and specifying the changes caused by exposure to trauma. Implications for what trauma support at school could entail for trauma-exposed adolescents are indicated.

Navigating between Home, Host, and Global: Consequences of Multicultural Team Members’ Identity Configurations

As the world becomes more connected, individuals increasingly interact and collaborate with people of different cultural backgrounds and hold multiple cultural identities. However, we know little a...

Changing Identities: A Case Study of Western Muslim Converts Whose Conversion Revised Their Relationship to Their National Identity

Few studies explore the impact conversion to Islam has on a Western individual’s social identity configuration. This article focuses on six Western Muslim converts—three from Montreal, two from Berlin, and one from Copenhagen—who experienced difficulties relating to their national identities prior to conversion, exploring how it developed afterwards. A qualitative interview guide was adapted in a semi-structured format to the demands of each individual, and interviews were analyzed applying thematic content analysis. The participants reveal how they revised their social identity configuration upon conversion, ultimately reversing their antagonistic relationship to their national identity. Their narratives relate how political realities are embedded in the perception and development of the Western Muslim identity, necessitating a revaluation of their national identity as a form of social critique. Our results demonstrate how socio-political experiences of discrimination and race are all significantly implicated in the process of conversion and Muslim identity development.

Water and the Struggle for Public Space

The urban space of colonial Rio de Janeiro was to a large degree structured by a water supply system drawn from European models, including aqueducts, fountains, and a network of underground pipes. This infrastructure, however, worked hand in hand with innumerable slaves responsible for the distribution of water from the fountains to individual households. The article analyzes the continuous social negotiation between white elites and Afro-Brazilian slaves regarding the localization, construction, usage, and valorization of the water works and the spaces produced by them. While the elites possessed the power, means, and traditions to design the infrastructure in the first instance, the slaves gave life to it, defined their eventual application and appearance, and more than once caused the white elites modify the works. Thus, by studying the city’s water supply, the article brings to the forefront the slaves’ ability to actively participate in the configuration of the physical and cultural identity of a colonial city.

Identificação e alteridade na identidade organizacional de uma organização pública

Este artigo tem por objetivo compreender a relação entre transformações contextuais vividas por uma autarquia estadual capixaba e as configurações identitárias manifestadas por gestores da organização. Buscou-se descrever os processos identitários da organização por um olhar interpretativista, pelo entendimento das relações simbólicas que permeiam essa organização, observados em discursos dos sujeitos. Utilizou-se pesquisa documental e entrevistas semiestruturadas individuais, material tratado a partir da técnica de análise de conteúdo. Como resultados, os achados da pesquisa apontam para duas configurações identitárias centrais que remetem à identificação do Idaf com outras organizações, e da distintividade do Idaf perante outros órgãos.