Claiming Individuality

The Cultural Politics of Distinction

Vered Amit, Noel Dyck

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Year: 2006
• Print ISBN: 9780745324593
• eBook ISBN: 9781849642996
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Personality in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Individuality is often interpreted as a force for the separation and autonomy of the individual. This book takes a different approach: it explores the expression of individuality as a form of social action inextricably linked to questions of belonging. Using case studies from North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, the authors examine a wide range of topics. Covering everything from studies of childhood and family relations to patterns of movement for tourism, work, and religious pilgrimage; from the spinning of fashions to the sculpting of life narratives, the contributors analyse the shifting forms of the cultural politics of distinction. The book illustrates the variation and ingenuity with which people in various settings claim diverse forms of individuality, their motivations for doing so, and the outcomes of their actions.

Table of contents

• Contents
• 1 On Claiming Individuality: An Introduction to the Issues
• 2 In the Aftermath of Death: Presenting Self, Individuality and Family in an Iyangar Family in Chennai, 1994
• 3 Growing up in the Caribbean: Individuality in the Making
• 4 Distinction and Co- construction: Diaspora Asian Fashion Entrepreneurs in London
• 5 Claiming Individuality through "Flexibility": Career Choices and Constraints among Traveling Consultants
• 6 A Personalized Journey: Tourism and Individuality
• 7 Becoming Educated, Becoming an Individual? Tropes of Distinction and "Modesty" in French Narratives of Rurality
• 8 An Anatomy of Humor: The Charismatic Repartee of Trevor Jeffries in The Mitre Pub
• 9 Proclaiming Individual Piety: Pilgrims and Religious Renewal in Cote d'Ivoire
• 10 Claiming to be Croat: The Risks of Return to the Homeland
• Notes on Contributors
• Index