[Xmca-l] identity expressed or formed by action?

[Andy Blunden]

I would be interested in any helpful comments (other than 
suggestions for more books to read) from my xmca 
psychologist friends on this problem.

In discussion with a friend, who is very au fait with 
contemporary social philosophy, but knows nothing of CHAT, 
suggested to me a number of ideas intended to be explanatory 
(rather than descriptive) of current social and political 
trends. He talks about the rise of "expressive authenticity" 
since the 1970s and "collective action as a means to express 
selfhood." In response, I questioned whether there is any 
such thing as a drive to *express* one's identity, and that 
rather, collective action (and there is fundamentally no 
other kind of action) in pursuit of needs of all kinds 
(spiritual, social and material) is *formative* of identity.

A classic case for analysis is the well-known observation 
that nowadays people purchase (clothes, cars, food, ...) as 
a means of expressing their identity. I question this, 
because it presumes that there is the innate drive to 
express one's identity, which I see no evidence for. I think 
people adopt dress styles in much the same way that people 
carry flags - to promote a movement they think positive and 
to gain social acceptance in it. Identity-formation is a 
*result* not a cause of this.

So, am I wrong? Is identity formation a result or a cause of 
activity?

Andy


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Andy Blunden
http://home.mira.net/~andy
http://www.brill.com/products/book/origins-collective-decision-making