Identity or Identification? Why the Difference Between These Concepts Matters.

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0226661 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2167-4086 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00332828 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Psychoanal Q Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2018- : [Philadelphia, PA] : Taylor & Francis
Original Publication: New York [etc.] Psychoanalytic Quarterly, inc.

Psychoanalytic Theory* ; Object Attachment*; Humans ; Gender Identity ; Religion ; Ethnicity

This paper examines two major issues related to the concept of identity. The first of these concerns the place of this concept in psychoanalytic theory and practice, particularly taking note of its limited presence in the psychoanalytic literature of the British School of psychoanalysis. My argument is that the concept and phenomena of identification has been preferred to that of identity in the discourse of British Object Relations and considers why that might be the case. The second issue concerns the salience of the concept of identity in contemporary political and cultural debate, as this has come to denote differences of a socially-constructed kind such as those of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion. In this context, the idea of identity has become an important point of reference in much recent psychoanalytic thinking. The significance of this development will be considered in its relevance for psychoanalytic and wider social practices.

Keywords: British Object Relations theory; Identity; difference; ethnicity; identification; race

Date Created: 20231130 Date Completed: 20231204 Latest Revision: 20231204

20240628

10.1080/00332828.2023.2270510

38032765