Based on the work of George Herbert Mead, Han Joas, and Axel Honneth, as well as the author's own personal and academic identities and journeys, Self, Identity, and Collective Action argues that the self and action are strictly related. Reading these authors provided Francine Tremblay with the theoretical ground to stand on while thinking about identity and how it is linked to civic participation. She posits that Mead's work and its link to action must be revisited and given its rightful place in sociology, and thatsociology must be radical, committed, and passionate.
Francine Tremblay is professor at Concordia University.
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction -The Appearance of Identity in Our Vocabulary -Theoretical Framework and Epistemological Choices -Rene Descartes and Modernity -Emile Durkheim and the Individual -Conversations Procedures Chapter One: Theoretical Framework -George Herbert Mead and the Genesis of the Self -Historical Notes -The Mind: Undoing Dualism -Language: From Gestures to Symbols -Building the Self -The Making of the Unique Self -Action: The Moment of I Become an Actor -Moral Identity: Who I Am is Defined by What I Do -Autonomy -Reduction of Suffering -Everyday Life -Moral Identity: A Work in Progress -The Luxury of Introspection -Recognition Chapter Two: The Making of Marginalized Identities: From the French Revolution to Now -The French Revolution and the Aftermath -The Problem of Representation -The Masses as Numbers -La Misere -Organized Workers -Madness -Industrialization -Sexuality -Drug Scares -Power -Identities and the Medical Discourse -Race, Self and Identity Chapter Three: The Virtual Selves -Playing with Reality -The Self and the New Panopticon -The Worldwide Shopping Mall -Virtual Discussion and Moral Identity -Online Activism -Discussion Chapter Four: Self, Identity and Collective Action -Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) -New Social Movement Theory (NSMT) -Identity and Framing -Actors and Collective Identity -Emotion: Time to Give the Untamed Element its Rightful Place -Mobilization - the Statues are Down. Now What? Conclusion: A Conversation with James Dalton -Theory -Technology and Social Media Bibliography About the Author
"This is an unusual proposition: a scholarly enterprise so reflexively centered on one's own activist self-identity. Or conversely: an activist self-identity enterprise so reflexively engaged in scholarly issues. In terms of its overall content, the manuscript can indeed be read both ways. What makes the manuscript an interesting proposition is its highly personal tone: applying sociological or philosophical concepts to personal situations and autobiographical experiences enrich their content. So, self-identity and self-interpretation through a very subjective point of view on both authors, theories, and concepts, as well as social reality, taken from such perspective. One leaves the book with the impression that an author has come alive in a journey into academia with a deep concern with social struggles aiming at giving a vivid personal voice to social justice." -- Jean-Francois Cote, The University of Quebec in Montreal This book will be of particular import to undergraduate students learning about self and society. Whereas many explorations of the self narrow the focus to questions of the individual, and sometimes appeal to social context, this work makes a compelling argument to think about the self in relation to collective action. Drawing on specific examples with regards to populations framed as "marginalized" -- sex workers, drug users, and indigenous people -- the work helps us to approach the issues with complexity. In an era of social media wherein representations and stagings of the self abound, this focus on the relevance of self for collective movement is both refreshing and reflective. -- Viviane Namaste, Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University, Montreal.
