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Poslední úprava: doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D. (08.03.2023)
This course offers an introduction to the analytical study of collective identities and their psycho-social foundation, that is, a sense of “belonging”, from the perspective of social sciences and anthropology more in particular. It will introduce the critical study of identity and belonging to students that are perhaps not familiar with it, but also foster the understanding of a variety of social phenomena and dynamics related to identity construction, negotiation, and expression. Identity, understood not as an essential aspect or a natural fact, but as a historical, contingent, relational, and processual phenomenon, is in fact now recognised as an extremely important dimension at different levels: for the individual, for supra-individual configurations (such as work, family, the locality), but also and perhaps especially for greater social/collective spheres, which express themselves in terms of identities that can be sportive, religious, regional, national, or even supranational (e.g., European or cosmopolitan). We shall draw attention to the historical, cultural, and institutional processes that have led to the emergence and crystallization of specific collective identities, both as bottom-up historical phenomena (e.g., the collective movements of the 1840s) or top-down political initiatives (e.g., the recent EU identity policies). Special attention will be given to the symbolic matters identities are made of (language, traditions, collective memories, histories, among others) and how such aspects are incorporated in – and expressed by – social actors, for example through body expressions (tattoos, hairstyle, clothing style) and collective forms of actions such as rituals. Analytical concepts like “nested identities”, “group dynamics” (“in-group” vs “out-group”), “belonging”, and others shall be presented and analysed in the classroom, and also operationalized vis-à-vis concrete examples. To this end, an array of empirical case studies will be presented that will be chosen from the pertinent literature as well as from the lecturer’s historical and ethnographic investigations in several European contexts. |
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Poslední úprava: doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D. (08.03.2023)
At the end of this course, the learners will be able to identify and interpret a variety of social issues concerning different forms of identity and belonging, understand them more deeply, and explain their functioning in the contemporary West. This critical expertise can be spent in a variety of different research and work settings. Given the importance of identity in both past and present societies, having a critical understanding of specific forms of identity and of their transformations will enhance the learners’ social sensibility. It will also enhance their capabilities of facing the challenges of our late modern world in an informed and thorough manner. |
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Poslední úprava: doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D. (08.03.2023)
EVALUATION METHODS Assessment will be undertaken through several methods, namely the evaluation of a student’s participation, of the group exercise (didactic block 5), as well as a final oral exam. The students will have to study all the items in the compulsory literature and then choose at least one item from the optional literature. The final exam will consist of an oral test conducted by the teacher about both the course content and the literature, although the overall final assessment will also take into account the attendance and the active participation of the learner. Evaluation will be broken down as follows: - Attendance and participation in the classroom: 10% - Group exercise: 20% - Final oral exam: 70% |
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Poslední úprava: doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D. (08.03.2023)
LITERATURE Compulsory readings (All students willing to take the exam will have to read the following texts)
- Entry “Identity” in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
- Chapter 1 “Introduction and Literature Review” in S. Adkim, Embodying and Expressing Identity through Tattoos, PHD Thesis 2018.
- Chapter 3: “Paradigms” in Anthony D. Smith 2013: Nationalism (2nd Edition), Cambridge: Polity Press.
- A. Testa, “Events that want to become heritage: on the vernacularisation of ICH and the politics of culture and identity in public rituals”. In C. Clopot, M. Nic Craith, U. Kockel, B. Tjarve (eds), Heritage and Festivals in Europe, Routledge, London 2019, pp. 79-94.
- Wilken, L. (2012), ‘Anthropological Studies of European Identity Constructionʼ, in: J. Frykman, M. Nic Craith, and U. Kockel (eds), A Companion the Anthropology of Europe(Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell), 125-144.
Additional readings (every student will have to choose and study at home, or present in the class, at least one of the following texts in addition to the compulsory ones)
- Bolea, Patricia Stow (2000), “Talking about Identity: Individual, Family, and Intergenerational Issues,” in Becoming a Family: Parents’ Stories and Their Implications for Practice, Policy, and Research, ed. Rena D. Harold, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 39–73.
- Chapter 1: “The European Memory Complex” in S. Macdonald, Memorylands: Heritage and Identity in Europe Today, Routledge, New-York-London 2013.
- Entry “Social Identity Theory” in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
- J. D. Medrano, P. Gutiérrez, “Nested identities: national and European identity in Spain”, in Ethnic and Racial Studies, n. 24 (5), 2001, pp. 753-778.
- Shore, C., (1998) “Inventing Homo Europaeus”, Ethnologia Europaea 29(2), 53-66
- A. Testa: “Intertwining Processes of Reconfiguring Tradition: Three European Case Studies”. In C. Isnart, A. Testa (eds.), Re-enchantment, Ritualization, Heritage-making: Processes Reconfiguring Tradition in Europe. Monographic issue of Ethnologia Europaea, n. 50 (1), 2020, pp. 20-37.
- John Tomaney, “Parochialism – a defence”, Progress in Human Geography |
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Poslední úprava: doc. Mgr. Jakub Grygar, Ph.D. (08.03.2023)
Block 1: Lessons 1 and 2: Identity and belonging, individual vs social Block 2: Lessons 3 and 4: What is identity made of? Language, traditions, memories, histories, networks, institutions, usage of the body, and more Block 3: Lessons 5 and 6: Nested identities, identity markers, and sense of belonging at the micro-and meso-levels: family, neighbourhood, village, locality, city, region Block 4: Lessons 7 and 8: Nested identities and identity markers at the macro-level: class, politics, religion, and sport fandom Block 5: Lesson 9: mid-season group work in the classroom) Block 6: Lessons 10-11: Nation, nationhood, nationality, national identity, nationalism, and cosmopolitanism in different scholarly traditions (primordialism, modernism, and ethnosymbolism) Block 7: Lesson 12: Conclusions and final discussion with the students |