scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Book

Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age

01 Jan 1991-
TL;DR: In the context of a post-traditional order, the self becomes a reflexive project as mentioned in this paper, which is not a term which has much applicability to traditional cultures, because it implies choice within plurality of possible options, and is 'adopted' rather than 'handed down'.
Abstract: The reflexivity of modernity extends into core of the self. Put in another way, in the context of a post-traditional order, the self becomes a reflexive project. One concerns the primacy of lifestyle — and its inevitability for the individual agent. Lifestyle is not a term which has much applicability to traditional cultures, because it implies choice within plurality of possible options, and is 'adopted' rather than 'handed down'. Lifestyle choices and life planning are not just 'in', or constituent of, the day-to-day life of social agents, but form institutional settings which help to shape their actions. Of course, for all individuals and groups, life chances condition lifestyle choices. Life planning is a specific example of a more general phenomenon that author shall discuss in some detail in subsequent chapter as the 'colonisation of the future'. In the reflexive project of the self, the narrative of self-identity is inherently fragile. Moreover, the pure relationship contains internal tensions and even contradictions.
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conceptualize agency as a temporally embedded process of social engagement, informed by the past (in its "iterational" or habitual aspect) but also oriented toward the future (as a projective capacity to imagine alternative possibilities) and toward the present, as a practical-evaluative capacity to contextualize past habits and future projects within the contingencies of the moment.
Abstract: This article aims (1) to analytically disaggregate agency into its several component elements (though these are interrelated empirically), (2) to demonstrate the ways in which these agentic dimensions interpenetrate with forms of structure, and (3) to point out the implications of such a conception of agency for empirical research. The authors conceptualize agency as a temporally embedded process of social engagement, informed by the past (in its “iterational” or habitual aspect) but also oriented toward the future (as a “projective” capacity to imagine alternative possibilities) and toward the present (as a “practical‐evaluative” capacity to contextualize past habits and future projects within the contingencies of the moment).

4,062 citations


Cites background from "Modernity and Self-Identity: Self a..."

  • ...Here we elaborate upon these theorists’ insights by examining in more detail how agency works to repro- 13 Giddens (1991) is particularly interested in the concept of routinization because of his ontological presuppositions: he emphasizes the need for “basic trust” and “ontological security” that…...

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that the success of organizations depends on their ability to design themselves as social learning systems and also to participate in broader learning systems such as an industry, a region, or a consortium.
Abstract: This essay argues that the success of organizations depends on their ability to design themselves as social learning systems and also to participate in broader learning systems such as an industry, a region, or a consortium. It explores the structure of these social learning systems. It proposes a social definition of learning and distinguishes between three `modes of belonging' by which we participate in social learning systems. Then it uses this framework to look at three constitutive elements of these systems: communities of practice, boundary processes among these communities, and identities as shaped by our participation in these systems.

4,003 citations

Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The authors presented a model of social change that predicts how the value systems play a crucial role in the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions, and that modernisation brings coherent cultural changes that are conducive to democratisation.
Abstract: This book demonstrates that people's basic values and beliefs are changing, in ways that affect their political, sexual, economic, and religious behaviour. These changes are roughly predictable: to a large extent, they can be interpreted on the basis of a revised version of modernisation theory presented here. Drawing on a massive body of evidence from societies containing 85 percent of the world's population, the authors demonstrate that modernisation is a process of human development, in which economic development gives rise to cultural changes that make individual autonomy, gender equality, and democracy increasingly likely. The authors present a model of social change that predicts how the value systems play a crucial role in the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions - and that modernisation brings coherent cultural changes that are conducive to democratisation.

3,016 citations

Book
01 Oct 2000
TL;DR: Maruna as discussed by the authors argues that to truly understand offenders, we must understand the stories that they tell - and that in turn this story-making process has the capacity to transform lives, and provides a fascinating narrative analysis of the lives of repeat offenders who, by all statistical measures, should have continued on the criminal path but instead have created lives of productivity and purpose.
Abstract: Can hardened criminals really reform? "Making Good" provides resounding proof that the answer is yes. This book provides a fascinating narrative analysis of the lives of repeat offenders who, by all statistical measures, should have continued on the criminal path but instead have created lives of productivity and purpose. This examination of the phenomenology of "making good" includes an encyclopedic review of the literature on personal reform as well as a practical guide to the use of narratives in offender counseling and rehabilitation.The author's research shows that criminals who desist from crime have constructed powerful narratives that aided them in making sense of their pasts, finding fulfillment in productive behaviors, and feeling in control of their future. Borrowing from the field of narrative psychology, Maruna argues that to truly understand offenders, we must understand the stories that they tell - and that in turn this story-making process has the capacity to transform lives. "Making Good" challenges some of the cherished assumptions of various therapy models for offenders and supports new paradigms for offender rehabilitation. This groundbreaking book is a must read for criminologists, forensic psychologists, lawyers, rehabilitation counselors, or anyone interested in the generative process of change.

2,695 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of recent research on teachers' professional identity can be divided into three categories: (1) studies in which the focus was on teachers’ professional identity formation, (2) studies that were focused on the identification of characteristics of teachers professional identity, and (3) studies where professional identity was (re)presented by teachers' stories.

2,355 citations


Cites background or result from "Modernity and Self-Identity: Self a..."

  • ...In the other, more general, literature (e.g., Bakhtin, 1981; Giddens, 1991), the emphasis is placed on the importance of narrative and dialogue in the construction of self....

    [...]

  • ...This relationship between teachers’ stories and their professional identity is in line with the other, more general, literature (e.g., Bakhtin, 1981; Gee, 2001; Giddens, 1991) and seems to be a sound theoretical basis for researching teachers’ professional identity....

    [...]