Identity

Modernity:
• It emphasized the rejection of tradition and the prioritization of individualism
• Rejection of Supernatural for the Natural
• Human achievements are the solution to our future

Post-Modernity:
• A reaction to the optimism of modernity filed by a skepticism of truth and concrete conclusions
• A desire to deconstruct paradigms that didn't fulfill their promises
• Truth is no longer objective but subjective

Today’s Identity Problem:
• The truth of who we are is no longer established for us, but we must establish that for ourselves
• For this reason we become concerned with constructing a ‘Narrative of Self’ so we can convince ourselves we have a stable Identity
• Consumerism and social technology provides consumers with the symbolic resources with which to (re)construct their identities
• This “Supermarket Self” is both a source of exhilaration (we are free to construct ourselves) and anxiety (we really don’t know who we are at the deepest level)
• The people we value most have the most control over our Identity.