[Air-l] conceptual lexicon

[Christopher J. Richter]

I think that you (Elijah, Ellis, Jeremy and others) may be working at
cross-purposes here because of the slipperiness of the term
"identity"--illustrating again (ironically?) the need for us to define
specifically how we use a term.  Concerning collective identity I see
three possibilities--there may be more.

1)If by collective identity you mean a sense of self-identity like that
held by an individual, then collective identity isn't possible unless
you believe that a collective has/can have a consciousness (or
sub/unconscious) above/separate from those of the individuals making it
up.  Note that I am specifying consciousness here, not collective
behavior.  I am unconvinced by supposed empirical evidence of collective
consciousness, the appeal of functionalist or Jungian explanations of
the social world not withstanding.

2)If by collective identity you mean that individuals' sense of identity
is intertwined with/formed in some measure through their membership
in/identification with a group, then it obviously does exist.  To use a
trivial example, living in the shadow of Virginia Tech I constantly
encounter neighbors who first and foremost identify themselves as
"Hokies" (whatever that means).  Though it may mean somewhat different
things to the different people who identify themselves in this way, they
certainly have enough in common--shared symbols (e.g. a fiberglass
statue of a turkey in a business suit--really, I'm serious!) and rituals
(watching "the game," modes of discourse, etc.)--that they relate to
each other fairly unproblematically, and give every appearance of
sharing meaning beyond a general drift.  As an aside, this also raises
the question of the stability of individuals' sense of identity--how it
seems to change with context or over time. Again my neighborhood lots of
people seem to identify themselves as Hokies on football Saturdays who
otherwise identify themselves as bankers, farmers, parents, Budweiser
drinkers, whatever, the rest of the week.  And some of them claim to
identify with collectivities such as political parties the values of
which seem to contradict their self proclaimed identities in other
contexts.

3) If by collective identity you mean that we, as observers, can
identify collectives and members of collectives by their use of symbols,
participation in rituals, etc., again, it seems to me obvious that it
does, in this sense, exist.

Of course, I may be off-base here.  Good discussion, though!

chris  

Christopher J. Richter
Assoc. Prof. & Chair, Communication Studies
Hollins University
P.O. Box 9652
Roanoke VA, 24020
Tel. 5403626358
Fax 5403626286
e-mail crichter at hollins.edu
web www.hollins.edu
 
-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Jeremy Hunsinger
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 5:28 PM
To: ellis.godard at csun.edu
Cc: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
Subject: Re: [Air-l] conceptual lexicon

Umm, I don't think we dodged it, it is just that it can't be  
described to you given the framework that you require.  It exists,  
you can see it all over.  The clearest physical expression of  
collective identity is usually expressed relation to in   
architecture, local customs, and related activities.   Do three  
friends always hug when they meet, what always happens in groups that  
takes no individual decision... tons of things.  Some families have  
collective identities, some schools do, and almost all military units  
do too, which was one of the major military critiques of the 'army of  
one' campaign.
On Aug 4, 2006, at 5:19 PM, Ellis Godard wrote:

> Jeremy wrote:
>> You can't get there from where you are.   you have to toss the
>> atomism and start considering that there are molecules and moles
>> which act fundamentally different as a whole than as a collection of
>> atoms.
>
> I'm of course not questioning that collective behavior is distinct  
> from
> atomistic or unitary behavior. I'm questioning whether "collective  
> identity"
> meaningfully exists, anywhere - a question you and Elijah both  
> dodged, even
> though I invited a half dozen kinds of possible responses. For example
> (again) what is the "collective identity" of this list?
>
> -eg
>

jeremy hunsinger
Assistant Professor
Pratt Institute
www.cddc.vt.edu
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