Identity is simultaneously about belonging and about differentiating from others.

Evidence

At a basic level, after all, identity is about belonging, about what we have in common with some people and what differentiates us from others. Identity gives one a sense of personal location, and provides a stable core for one’s individuality; but it is also about one’s social relationships, one’s complex involvement with others, and in the modern world these have become even more complex and confusing. Each of us lives with a variety of potentially contradictory identities, which battle within us for allegiance: as men or women, black, brown, or white, straight or gay, able-bodied or disabled. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 118

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines identity via belonging/location and via potentially contradictory multiple identities — useful reference grounding for vault claims about intersectionality and identity politics.
• XREF: The ‘contradictory identities battling for allegiance’ framing connects directly to intersectionality claims (Crenshaw-type analysis) already in the vault. — connects to: Reworking gender needs both transcendence and affirmation of identity. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 255; Self forms through recognizing an other both alike and different — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 582; Identity is constituted through social action and language rather than merely reflected in behavior — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction: A…, 19 (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 118