What's my identity?

Activity inspired by the materials offered by The House of European History – A project of European Parliament. These resources for educators and students have been developed and written by the education team at the House of European History. (…) These resources foster key competences in knowledge, skills and attitudes, all of which are defined as necessary for personal fulfillment and development, social inclusion, active citizenship and employment.

https://historia-europa.ep.eu/en/educators-teachers/classroom-activities/who-do-you-think-you-are-identity   

Who do you think you are – Identity

How do you define your identity? And what might such characteristics be? 

Identity constantly shifts and evolves, and therefore our views about who we are and who others might be are open to change. 

This theme examines the multidimensional nature of identity and draws on past and present examples, getting us to ponder on what European identity might mean in the 21st century.

We all come from different backgrounds, have different life experiences and have grown up in cultural and ethnic contexts that may be far removed from the people around us. How we describe and define ourselves may have long established roots as with family or neighbourhood connections. However, people also create identities and a sense of who they are from more immediate social aspects around them such as jobs, pastimes or the types of friends and groups they identify with or spend time with. Key markers of identity include ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and physical appearance, and all deserve respect.

Introduction to Identity: definitions

Identity

‘Identities are never unified and, in late modern times, increasingly fragmented and fractured; never singular but multiply constructed across different, often intersecting and antagonistic discourses, practices and positions. They … are constantly in the process of change and transformation.’

Source: Stuart Hall, Questions of Cultural Identity, 1996

Ethnic identity

‘An ethnic group is a type of cultural collectivity, one that emphasises the role of myths of descent and historical memory, and that is recognised by one or more cultural differences like religion, customs, language or institutions’

Source: Anthony D. Smith, National Identity, 1991

Nation

‘A named community possessing an historic territory, shared myths and memories, a common public culture and common laws and customs’

Source: Anthony D Smith, When is a Nation, 2002

Nationalism

‘An ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual or potential “nation”‘

Source: Anthony D. Smith, National Identity, 1991

State

‘Can be defined as a set of autonomous institutions exercising a monopoly of coercion and extraction in a given territory’

Source: Anthony D Smith, Ethno-Symbolism and Nationalism, 2009

Nations without states

‘Territorial communities with their own identity and a desire for self-determination included within the boundaries of one or more states, with which, by and large, they do not identify. In nations without states, the feeling of identity is generally based on their own common culture and history’

Source: Montserrat Guibernau, Nations and Nationalism, 2004

Culture

‘[Culture] is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by [a human] as a member of society.’

Source: UNESCO

Cultural Heritage

The term cultural heritage encompasses several main categories of heritage:

-Tangible cultural heritage

o movable cultural heritage (paintings, sculptures, coins, manuscripts)

o immovable cultural heritage (monuments, archaeological sites, etc)

o underwater cultural heritage (wrecks, underwater ruins and cities)

-Intangible cultural heritage: oral traditions, performing arts, rituals