Table of Contents

Introduction: an identity wave
1: "Who am I?" Identity in philosophy
2: Identity in logic and the classical law of thought
3: Given or constructed? Identity in cultural anthropology
4: Adam and Eve, Hijra, LGBTQs and the shake-up of gender identities
5: Identity politics: promises and dangers
6: "Your station in life." Social identities in our time
7: Citizenship, legal status, and proof of identity - identity as a legal concept
8: Selfhood, character, and personality - the psychology of identity
9: "They don't speak our language." Identity in linguistics
10: Who is behind the mask? Identity in literature and literary criticism
Conclusions
Further reading
Index

About the Author

Florian Coulmas is Professor of Japanese Society and Sociolinguistics at the IN-EAST Institute of East Asian Studies at Duisburg-Essen University. Prior to this, he has held research and teaching positions at Georgetown University, the National Institute of Japanese Language and Linguistics, and Chuo University. He has published numerous books, including An Introduction to Multilingualism (OUP, 2017) and Writing and Society: A Introduction
(Cambridge University Press, 2013). For the past three decades he has served as Associate Editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Languages, during which time he has observed the steadily increasing use of the
concept of identity in both general and scholarly publications.

Reviews

By setting the concept of identity in its correct historical, philosophical, cultural, political, and sociological context, Florian Coulmas brilliantly rescues one of the most overused and abused words of recent decades and demonstrates why it has such relevance for contemporary debates
*Professor Roger Goodman*

Coulmas' masterful coverage of a diverse range of literature, from philosophy, law and psychology to linguistics, anthropology, and politics, makes this short introduction a treasure trove for anyone who wishes to understand or research issues of identity in history as well in the contemporary world. An invaluable guide to a fascinating field.
*Li Wei, Chair of Applied Linguistics, University College London, UK*