This module critically examines how our individual and collective identities are shaped by and constitute wider processes of social change. It charts the contribution social theory has made to our understanding of the self and identity, and how identities are implicated in both social change and reproduction. The contestation and negotiation of identity is explored in key contemporary social settings such as debates over body technology and post-humanism; gender, ethnic and sexual identity; personal relationships; self-help and self-optimisation; new political subjectivities, ideology and discourse; the role of mass and niche media, culture and consumption.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Draw on classic and contemporary social theory – and allied disciplines – to critically interrogate the nature of human identity
Identify key transitions in the nature of identity construction in contemporary societies
Understand identity as both constitutive of and constituted by wider social structures and relations
Critically analyse processes of identity formation in key substantive areas of contemporary social life
Understand identity as a crucial contemporary site of power, political contestation and social transformation
Assessment
34477-01 : Essay : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions
Assessment: 1x 4,000 word essay
Reassessment: 4000-word essay
