The roots of identity: devices of social human reflexivity, their evolution and their effects
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Pablo Navarro
Abstract
This paper explores some of the components of individual social identity. It depicts that identity as a selfreflecting mechanism which has evolved historically in parallel to the structural development of human societies. Different profiles of individual social identity are coupled to the various devices of social reflexivity developed by those societies. The original reflexive device of human societies is reflective reflexivity, whose instrument is the self-conscious and heteroconscious mind of individuals. Through this device, each individual is able to create elaborate social maps of his environment. But in addition to that primigenial mechanism of social reflexivity, and in the course of social evolution, others mechanisms have emerged which have a non reflective nature: they are not based upon conscious interaction, but on interactions of an intentionally dissipative nature. This is an interaction arising not from some sort of intentional confluence between actors, but from the interlocking between specific unintended consequences of their actions. This dissipative reflexivity, exemplified by market relations, intertwines with the aforementioned reflective reflexivity and jointly determine the kind of individual social identity which is typical of modern societies.
How to Cite
Navarro, P. (2012). The roots of identity: devices of social human reflexivity, their evolution and their effects. Papeles De Identidad, 2009(1). https://doi.org/10.1387/pceic.12247
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Keywords
sociological theory, individual social identity, human sociality, social evolution, evolution of human sociality, social reflexivity, dissipative structures, intentional dissipation, reflective reflexivity, dissipative reflexivity
Section
Research Articles
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