Postmodernist views on identity

Question 1

What are the five points of the Postmodernist views on Identity?

Answer 1

1. Postmodernist criticise all these modernist views of the formation of identities as outdated.
2. They argue that our culture is now too fragmented to have an influence on our identities, and that social institutions have diversified and diminished and lost their power to socialise us into identities, either through dominant ideology or labelling.
3. We have complete freedom of choice in the way we construct our identities.
4. Identities are constructed around consumption and leisure
5. We are what we buy (Clarke and Saunders, 1991)

Question 2

What points must be considered following the five points of the Postmodernist views on Identity?

Answer 2

• Overemphasise fragmentation of society and blurring of divisions between social groups
• Inequalities between social groups continue to exist
• Social position remains a key source of identity. (e.g. Devine)