Les identités difficiles

Who am I? Who are we? What defines “us”? What do we say “they” are? On what do we base this “they”? Everyone possesses multiple identities, whether in real life, in the context of society, of institutions and organizations, or on the transnational playing field. The vague notion of European Identity constitutes in this regard a fine example of the interlacing of identity factors.

Reality is in part determined by individual memory, and even more by a so-called “collective memory” transmitted in effect by the family, by school, and by the media whose combined influences form individual identities. The “all environment” outlook is just as absurd as an “all inborn” one, to which the development and applications of genetics subscribe belief, no more than the “all sex” outlook ascribes identity in relation to others as beginning with experiences of love.

Conceptions of identity are tied to ultimate truth questions and the answers return us to the way human groups perceive and organize their futures, and therefore, their politics.