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The concept of identity:
movement from the abstract to the concrete

Gaman-Golutvina O.V.,

MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia; HSE University, Moscow, Russia, ogaman@mgimo.ru

elibrary_id: 250180 | ORCID: 0000-0002-2660-481X | RESEARCHER_ID: E-4046-2012

Article received: 2024.02.21 16:42. Accepted: 2024.03.23 16:43


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2024.03.12
EDN: FKLGZW

Rubric: Reflecting on matters in print

For citation:

Gaman-Golutvina O.V. The concept of identity: movement from the abstract to the concrete. – Polis. Political Studies. 2024. No. 3. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2024.03.12. EDN: FKLGZW (In Russ.)

The article was prepared in the framework of a grant provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Grant Agreement No. 075-15-2022-327 dated 22.04.2022).

Abstract

The subject of the article is an overview of identitarian research results in Russia reflected in the cycle of the 2010-2023 fundamental scientific publications. The main result is the formation of an original Russian scientific school of identity studies and the establishment of this scientific area as an autonomous subdiscipline of political science. Two substantive dimensions of identitarian studies are identified - analytical-conceptual and substantive-political. Within the framework of the first one, the author analyses the key theoretical parameters of identity studies, including the substantive evolution of the identity concept, theoretical and methodological context and semantic explications of identity studies. A number of identity theoretical articulations are considered: identity modus operandi (positive, negative), identity crises, development, complex society, political space and political time, social justice, social solidarity, civilisational and geopolitical identity, memory and culture wars, cancellation culture, cultural security and cultural sovereignty, and others. An overview of prospective identity studies is presented, including the synthesis of micro- and macro-level identity analyses; the development of the middle-level theories as the way to bridge the gap between empirical analysis and “big theory” in understanding the changes taking place in different regions of the world, taking into account the historical past, political culture, emotional structure and worldview; the relationship between macro-political identities and ideologies; the correlation between civic and ethnic identities; and the relationship between identity and ideology. The political significance of identity research reflects the need to reorient the contemporary way of thinking as predominantly consumerist to the responsible development imperatives, which is supported by a positive identity. 

Keywords

identity, identity studies, identity crisis, civilisational identity, political time, political space, development paradigm, responsible development, intangible development resources, complex society, social justice, social solidarity.

 Full Text

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