Identity is constituted through relation to what is other and different from itself

Evidence

However, the fact is that neither individuals as free-floating entities nor communities as solidaristic wholes occupy the social space on their own. Each is constituted in and through its relation to that which is other and different from itself. If this is not to result in either “the war of all against all” or a segregated communalism, then we must look for how both the greater recognition of difference and greater equality and justice for all can become part of a common “horizon.” — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 378

Categorization

• DEFINE: Core relational conception of identity: neither individual nor community exists autonomously; both are constituted through difference.
• ADDENDUM: The relational constitution of identity through difference directly parallels the relational logic in the ‘Grafting & Growth’ piece where grafting metaphors show identity formed across boundaries rather than within them.
• XREF: connects to: The Other is constituted by negation as the self which is not myself — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 675; The negation relation with the Other is reciprocal unlike that with things; Being-seen-by-the-Other is the foundational relation from which the Other-as-object is derived — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 722 (+27 more)