Interrogating Identity: Questions toward its Conceptual Definition

Abstract

From the social sciences, the topic of identity has been approached in multiple ways and with diverse outcomes, revealing several dimensions of what has become a fundamental concept for understanding certain social phenomena. The framework guiding this work is grounded in such disciplinary diversity, based on the premise that the complexity of the concept of identity requires a broad yet clearly delimited approach. Accordingly, this paper proposes to examine the conceptual nature of identity, with the aim of revitalizing the theoretical discussions surrounding it. To this end, a theoretical–conceptual analysis mediated by guiding questions was carried out, through which the concept was problematized from within the broad spectrum of the social sciences. The analysis shows that the concept cannot be detached from the two major traditions that have shaped the historical study of identity: one that insists on a strong continuity of the individual with themselves over time, and another that denies such sameness, conceiving subjects as being in constant transformation. The discussion highlights the need to situate oneself at the margins of these two positions, acknowledging a necessary gradation between these conceptual extremes.