Doing Identity in Luxembourg

... with Rachel Reckinger und Christian Schulz

1.»Books the world doesn't need. Why is this not the case for your publication? The originality of this book is its unusual – for the object in question – ›interdisciplinary‹ approach to individual and institutional identification processes and the systematic analysis of the interdependence and interplay between various forms of personal and collective identification.

2. Which novel points of view does your publication offer?

The book overcomes essentialist perspectives by showing that identity constructions are neither objective nor closed processes. Rather it reveals the ambivalences and contradictions inherent to social practices and thus highlights the socio-constructivist character of identities. This reveals hybridities that escape the prevalent rigid and seemingly familiar constructions of order.

3. What is the significance of the subject in current debates?

The poststructuralist approach of this study unmasks the diversity and complexity of identity construction and puts special emphasis on the interaction between attributed and appropriated identities. This particular analytical focus in turn allows us to reveal the intricacies of the construction process of so-called ›desirable‹ and ›lived‹ identities. The confrontation of and divergences between these different forms of identity construction as analytical categories can be considered an innovative approach to the study of identity construction.

4. With whom would you most like to discuss your publication?

Lydia Martens, Joep Leerssen, Henk van Houtum, Michael Vester, Andreas Reckwitz, Jürgen Straub, Renate Höfer, Heiner Keupp, Armin Nassehi, Benno Werlen, Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Ludger Pries, Jürgen Bolten.

5. Your book in one sentence:

The interdisciplinary approach of this book generates insights into the processes of construction and appropriation of both individual and collective identities in the specifically multicultural setting of Luxembourg.