The Concept of Identity: A Historical Perspective
Systematic inquiry in identity can be traced back to psychologist Erikson’s (1950, 1959/1980, 1968) groundbreaking work. Erikson conceived identity as a central feature of “personhood,” namely, a person’s unified “essence,” and a special experience of it, from which superficial characteristics of the person are differentiated.
In this conception of identity, both personal and social dimensions are merged into a unitary whole. According to Erikson, identity emerges during a person’s formative years and continues to evolve throughout one’s life. This continuous process of identity development is regarded as being shaped by the individual’s unique personal experiences as well as the experiences of significant social group(s) with whom the individual interacts. As such, when someone achieves an identity, the way the person interacts with the social world—his or her ability to trust, to work, to play, and to develop relationships—is recognized externally by others in a way that is more or less consistent with the person’s internal constitution and the person’s self-conception of it.Since Erikson’s formulation of identity as a unitary psychosocial concept, there has been a general shift in ideology toward cultural and ethnic pluralism, particularly in the United States and Western European societies. This ideological shift is marked by a variety of collective movements of ethnic minorities and other traditionally nondominant cultures and social groups protesting that members have been denied their own voice in establishing the conditions of their lives and in determining their own identities as peoples. The “new ethnicity” movement during the civil rights era has been visible within the ranks of academia as well, elevating the notion of identity as one of the most salient concepts across social science disciplines and beyond.