Identity is both a source of agency and increasingly constructed rather than given

Evidence

The construction of the self as a reflexive project, an elemental part of the reflexivity of modernity; an individual must find her or his identity amid the strategies and options provided by abstract systems. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 295 (#expands, via linked claim)

In all these contexts, Stuart is careful to recognize that identity is always something constructed in discourse rather than some given sociological or biological essence that preexists representation. … He is also very clear about the extent that identity, far from being a matter of self-creation, is, rather, best understood as something constructed in and through a dialogic process—in which individuals attempt to develop a sense of their identity in (sometimes conflictual) interaction with identities thrust upon them by others. … Thus, elsewhere, Stuart talks about how “at different times in my 30 years in England, I have been hailed or interpellated as ‘coloured,’ ‘West Indian,’ ‘Negro,’ … ‘immigrant’ … sometimes abusively, sometimes in a friendly manner, sometimes ambiguously.” — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 23 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Human identity is constructed and occasionally invented, not natural and stable — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 839; Authority is a constructed, analyzable mechanism rather than a natural given; Identity is a positional political choice, not an ascribed primordial given (+23 more)

Related

• Identity similarity is interactionally achieved, not a matter of actual sameness. (similarity 0.86)
• Identity is constructed through discourse and dialogic interaction, not self-creation (similarity 0.86)
• Human identity is constructed and occasionally invented, not natural and stable (similarity 0.84)
• Identity is perpetually in formation, never a completed essence. (similarity 0.83)
• Cultural identity is a forward-directed production, not a recovery of origins (similarity 0.83)
• Identity is positional and processual, never reducible to one fixed position (similarity 0.83)
• Becoming a subject requires prior subjection to discourse (similarity 0.83)
• Identity is constituted by context and asserted only as a partial account. (similarity 0.82)
• Identity is now a matter of choice rather than inherited absolute truth (similarity 0.81)
• The new identification produces a self that did not preexist it. (similarity 0.81)
• Identity is constituted through representation, not expressed from lived experience. (similarity 0.81)
• Identity is constituted through social action and language rather than merely reflected in behavior (similarity 0.80)
• Identity is a positional political choice, not an ascribed primordial given (similarity 0.80)
• Self-identity is now a reflexive project conducted amid abstract systems (similarity 0.80)
• Identity labels serve only as starting points, never fixed essences. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Identity is constituted within representation rather than pre-existing it #expands (0.92)
• Self-identity is now a reflexive project conducted amid abstract systems #expands (0.92) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 295
• Identity is constructed through discourse and dialogic interaction, not self-creation #expands (0.90) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 23
• Being named by others can produce the very identity one then inhabits. #exemplifies (0.82)
• Identities are reinforced by outsider-given labels #exemplifies (0.80)
• Identity is a contradictory, multi-discursive, non-closed totality #expands (0.78)
• Identity is constituted through splitting and an interiorized Other, not pure difference. #qualifies (0.75)