released 5/21/2021

In the 2000 anthology Identity and Social Change (Transaction Publishers), editor Joseph E. Davis writes that “personal and social identities are a problem because of the destabilizing and uprooting social forces of modern life.” Those forces — and their name is legion — created a new existential task: “how to place oneself amidst a pluralism of incommensurable beliefs and behaviors, maintain that placement, and have it recognized by others.” In this interview from Volume 49 of the Journal, Davis (most recently heard on Volume 150) talks with Ken Myers about why some social theorists have questioned the very existence of selves.

14 minutes

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