Understanding Identity and Belonging - JSM128

• Title: Understanding Identity and Belonging
• Czech title: Understanding Identity and Belonging
• Form of teaching: lecture
• Guaranteed by: Department of Sociology (23-KS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2025
• Duration in semesters: 1
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 8
• Examination process: winter s.:combined
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 25 / unknown (25)
• Maximum number of enrolled students: 25
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Repeated enrollment: 2 / 2 / 1 / 2
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: doc. Alessandro Testa, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): doc. Alessandro Testa, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses for incoming students

Syllabus

TITLE: Understanding Identity and Belonging

 

TEACHER: doc. Alessandro Testa, PhD

 

 

OUTLINE

The interest in the concepts of “identity” and “identity politics” and the centrality that specific, discreet identities have acquired in the public sphere in recent times are unprecedented. Why this shift, why now?

This course offers an introduction to the analytical study of collective identities and their psycho-social foundation, that is, a sense of “belonging”, from the perspective of social sciences and anthropology more in particular. It will introduce the critical study of identity and belonging to students that are perhaps not familiar with it, but also foster the understanding of a variety of social phenomena and dynamics related to identity construction, negotiation, and expression. Identity, understood not as an essential aspect or a natural fact, but as a historical, contingent, relational, and processual phenomenon, is in fact now recognised as an extremely important dimension at different levels: for the individual, for supra-individual configurations (such as work, family, the locality), but also and perhaps especially for greater social/collective spheres, which express themselves in terms of identities that can be sportive, religious, regional, national, or even supranational (e.g., European or cosmopolitan).

We shall draw attention to the historical, cultural, and institutional processes that have led to the emergence and crystallization of specific collective identities, both as bottom-up historical phenomena (e.g., the collective national movements of the 1840s) or top-down political initiatives (e.g., the recent EU identity policies). Special attention will be given to the symbolic substances identities are made of (language, traditions, collective memories, histories, rituals, among others) and how such aspects are incorporated in – and expressed by – social actors, for example through body expressions (tattoos, hairstyle, clothing style) and collective forms of actions such as rituals. Analytical concepts like “nested identities”, “group dynamics” (“in-group” vs “out-group”), “presentation of the self”, and others shall be presented and analysed in the classroom, and also operationalized vis-à-vis concrete examples. To this end, an array of empirical case studies will be presented that will be chosen from the pertinent literature as well as from the lecturer’s historical and ethnographic investigations in several European contexts.

 

TENTATIVE COURSE STRUCTURE (subject to possible variations)

1) Introduction: Identity and belonging, individual vs social

2) Identity of the self, identity of the body; family identity

3) The dynamics of identification and differentiation: framing and alignment

4) What is social or collective identity made of? Language, traditions, memories, histories, networks, institutions, and more

5) Nested identities, identity markers, and sense of belonging at the micro- and meso-levels: group, neighborhood, village, locality, city, region

6) Nested identities and identity markers at the macro-level: class, politics, religion, and sport fandom

7) Identities that shake the world: nation, nationhood, nationality, national identity, nationalism, their differences and corollaries; localism, globalism, globalism, cosmopolitanism

8) The nation, again, in different scholarly traditions: primordialism, modernism, and ethnosymbolism; case studies

9) More case studies and further theoretical discussion

10) More case studies and more discussion (if time allows)

11) Conclusions and final discussion with the students

12) Final exam in the classroom

 

TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS

The main teaching method will be direct instruction through lessons.

The students will also be asked to actively participate in the teaching and learning processes. They will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute during the lessons and will also be given the opportunity to express their opinions voluntarily about the readings that will be handed out and read in itinere. Groups of students will be formed and asked to present and discuss some articles chosen from the course literature – this may also be done by individual students.

The course will be offline only.

 

ATTENDANCE AND COMPENSATION POLICY

Both attendance and active participation during the lessons are considered as very important and will be taken into consideration in the evaluation process. Attendance is mandatory.  and subjects to a number of compensation and grading rules. Only one absence is justified. Students are not obliged to notify the teacher about the reasons of their absence(s). Since more than two absences will impact the evaluation, students will have the possibility to choose additional readings on top of the one additional reading that is mandatory for everybody, lest his or her final mark be downgraded by half a grade for every two absences. To illustrate: if you have four absences and choose not to complete the additional readings, a grade of C (or C- or C+) on your test would result in a final course grade of D. If you have three absences and a grade of C or C-, your final course grade will be D (but a grade of C+ will be C). To recapitulate:

- 1 absence: no action required.

- 2-3 absences: the student shall complete one additional reading or the final grade will be reduced by half a grade.

- 4-5 absences: the student shall complete one additional reading or the final grade will be reduced by one full grade

More than 5 absences: the student will be excluded from the course and not be allowed to sit the exam, except in cases of serious, documented reasons, which must be discussed with the teacher in advance or as early as possible during the course.

It goes without saying that choosing to study additional readings does not per se mean that the grade will be higher - that still depends on how the student will do with the test.

As a general rule, students do not need to inform the teacher of their absences. Exceptional cases – reiterated or long absences due to illness or other serious and motivated reasons – will be communicated to the teacher and a solution will be found.

 

LITERATURE POLICY

All students will have to study the compulsory readings (list n.1). All students will have to choose one additional reading from list n. 2 and present it either in the classroom or at the final exam.

Additional readings to make up for absences will be studied in addition to the former ones.

It is possible to choose readings that have already been chosen and presented by other students.

Each student will inform the teacher of his/her chosen additional reading(s) via email toward the end of course.

 

EVALUATION METHODS

Assessment will take into consideration several elements, namely attendance, active participation, a paper presentation (or additional readings in the final test), and, more importantly, a final test. The test will be administered in the classroom and it will be developed by the students without the help of any electronic device (no plagiarism or usage of the AI will be tolerated). Students will only be allowed to bring maximum two pages of hand-written notes, sheets of white paper to write on, a pen and a pencil, and, if they need it, a dictionary of English. Other specific instructions about the test will be given in due course – during the lessons prior to the final one.

The overall final assessment will also take into account the attendance and the active participation of each student.

 

USE OF AI

The use of generative AI in this course is not permitted.

 

LITERATURE

Compulsory readings

(All students willing to take the exam will have to read the following texts)

 

-        Entries “Identity” (pp. 551-555), “Identity, Social” (pp. 555-556), and “Self-Identity” (417-418) in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, II ed.

 

-        Eidson, J. R., Feyissa, D., Fuest, V., Hoehne, M. V., Nieswand, B., Schlee, G., et al. (2017), “From identification to framing and alignment: a new approach to the comparative analysis of collective identities”, in Current Anthropology, 58(3), 340-351.

 

-        Smith, D. Anthony: Chapter 3: “Paradigms” 2013 in his book Nationalism (2^nd Edition), Cambridge: Polity Press.

 

-        Alessandro Testa, “Ritual Creativity, National Identity, and Nationalism”, in K. Rati and I. Kostelecky (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Ritual Creativity – forthcoming

 

-        John Tomaney, “Parochialism – a defence”, Progress in Human Geography
n. 37(5), 2012, 658–672

 

-        Wilken, L. (2012), ‘Anthropological Studies of European Identity Constructionʼ, in: J. Frykman, M. Nic Craith, and U. Kockel (eds), A Companion the Anthropology of Europe (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell), 125-144.

 

 

Additional readings

(every student will have to choose and study at home, or present in the class, at least one of the following texts in addition to the compulsory ones)

 

The Self and the Body

 

-        S. Adkim, Chapter 1 “Introduction and Literature Review”, in Embodying and Expressing Identity through Tattoos, PHD Thesis 2018, pp. 1-17

 

-        Francois Naude & Luzelle Naude (2024): “(Tat)who Am I? Tattoos as an Expression of Narrative Identity”, Identity, 24:2, 79-94,

 

Family Identity

 

-        Eugenia Scabini and Claudia Manzi, “Family Processes and Identity”, in S.J. Schwartz et al. (eds.), Handbook of Identity Theory and Research, pp. 569-588

 

Ethnic and National Identities

 

-        Blok, Anton. 1998. “The narcissism of minor differences.” European Journal of Social Theory 1(1): 33–56.

 

-        Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Marek Jakoubek 2019: “Ethnic Groups, Boundaries, and Beyond”. In id., Ethnic Groups and Boundaries Today. A Legacy of Fifty Years. Routledge, London 2019, pp. 1-19.

 

-        Martin Lindhardt, “‘In Denmark we eat pork and shake hands!’ Islam and the anti-Islamic emblems of cultural difference in Danish neo-nationalism”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 2022, Vol. 25(4) 1139–1155

 

-        Alessandro Testa, Mariann Vaczi 2023: “Behind the Quest for the Nation: The Politics of Identity and Culture in Post-Franco Catalonia”. In A. Testa, M. Vaczi (eds.), Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia. Tamesis (Boydell & Brewer), Suffolk, pp. 1-18

 

-        Alessandro Testa, “The Ritual Making of Central Catalonia 1: National Identity and the Hanging of the Donkey”. In A. Testa, M. Vaczi (eds.), Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia. Tamesis (Boydell & Brewer), Suffolk, pp. 35-54

 

-        Alessandro Testa, “The Ritual Making of Central Catalonia 2: Comparses and the Dynamics of Inclusive Nationalism”. In A. Testa, M. Vaczi (eds.), Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia. Tamesis (Boydell & Brewer), Suffolk, pp. 55-76

 

-        Nicholas Lackenby 2024: “Peoplehood and the Orthodox person: a view from central Serbia”. In Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Volume 30, Issue 2: 261-531

 

European Identities

 

-        Viktoria Kaina, Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski 2009: “EU governance and European identity”, Living Reviews in European Governance, Vol. 4, (2009), No. 2

 

-        Alessandro Testa, “The Politics of Culture and Identity in European Public Rituals”, chapter in Alessandro Testa, Ritualising Cultural Heritage and Re-Enchanting Rituals in Europe. Carolina Academic Press, Durham, pp. 151-168

 

Theories, notions, problems

 

 

-        Nicholas Gane, “Zygmunt Bauman: Liquid Modernity and Beyond”. In Acta Sociologica Vol. 44, No. 3 (2001), pp. 267-275.

 

-        Matthew J. Hornsey, Jolanda Jetten, “The Individual Within the Group: Balancing the Need to Belong With the Need to Be Different”, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2004, Vol. 8, No. 3, 248-264

 

-        S. Macdonald, Chapter 1: “The European Memory-Identity-Heritage Complex” in Memorylands: Heritage and Identity in Europe Today, Routledge, New-York-London 2013, pp.

 

-        J. D. Medrano, P. Gutiérrez, “Nested identities: national and European identity in Spain”, in Ethnic and Racial Studies, n. 24 (5), 2001, pp. 753-778.

Last update: Testa Alessandro, doc., Ph.D. (05.09.2026)