This document discusses different types of identity, including personal identity, social identity, and human identity. It notes that personal identity is shaped by social and cultural influences but also allows for personal reflection and choice. Social identity is defined by one's social positions and categories but an individual may see themselves differently. Human identity requires judgment based on moral beliefs and critical reflection. The document also discusses the plurality of social identities individuals can have and the interplay and flow between personal, social, and human identities.

1. The Concept of Identity
Politcal Principles for an Interdependent World
Bhikhu Parekh
by : Hajare
ZERKTOUNI

2. Outline
 The question of identity
 Personal identity
 Social identity
 Plurality of social identities
 Human identity
 Dialectic of identities
 Conclusion

3. The question of Identity
 The identity of a thing consists in
those constitutive features that define
it as this thing or this kind of thing
rather than some other, and
distinguish it from others.


4. Personal identity
 Human beings grow up being shaped
by countless planned and unplanned
influences.

5. Traditonal vs Modern socities

6. Traditional Societies :
« The individual is defined more or less exhaustively
by his/her heavily scripted social positions , and
personal identity , although present in the form of
biographical details , is neither valued nor allowed
much space. »

7. « A man who aims at nothing
misses nothing . »

8. Choice and identity
 « To have a well-developed character
is so to anchor one’s identity in certain
commitments and values that one has
no or only minimal choice in morally
significant matters. »

9. « No personal identity is self-
authenticating or beyond
criticism , as some advocates
of identity politics maintain. »

10. Social Identity

11. « For all kinds of reasons ,
including the desire to maintain a
particular structure of power ,
some of these features and
relations become socially
significant and are used to
classify individuals. »

12. « Although society
categorizes and defines its
members identities in certain
ways and expects them to
conduct themselves
accordingly , they might
themselves take a different
view of them . »

13. Plurality of social identities
 Multiple belongings
 Loyalties
 Meanings
 Narratives of our life
 Human freedom
 Well-being

14. « The politics of identity is
shadowed by the politics of
violence »

15. Human identity
 « Like other identities , what human
identity requires is a matter of
judgement , based on both the
prevailing moral beliefs and critical
reflection on it . »

16. Dialectic of identities
 « The three identities are inseparable
and flow into each other : we begin
our lives shaped by countless formal
and informal social influences and
construct our personal identity
reflectively . »

17. « Identity is like
happiness, which eludes us if
it is consciously persued and
constantly monitored »