Against the common supposition that identity always mattered, this book shows that what we now think of routinely as 'personal identity' actually only emerged with the explosion of consumption in the late-twentieth century. It also makes the case that what we now think of as different social and political 'identities' only came to be framed as such with the emergence of identity politics and new social movements in the political landscapes of capitalist societies in the 60s and 70s. Marie Moran provides an important new exploration of the articulation of the idea of identity to the social logic of capitalism, from the 'organised capitalism' of the mid-twentieth century, up to and including the neoliberal capitalism that prevails today. Drawing on the work of Raymond Williams, the cultural materialist approach developed here provides an original means of addressing the political debates about the value of identity in contemporary capitalist societies.

Details

Type

Book

Place of publication

Los Angeles

Year

2015

Number of pages

198 pages

Language

English

ISBN

9781446249758

Open stacks or available on request

Open stacks

Illustrations

No

Bibliography

No

UDC code and author sign

300.1 Mor

Volumes

1

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