Choosing a Self: Young Women and the Individualization of Identity

by Shelley Budgeon

Overview

In today's social context, characterized by fluidity, uncertainty, and individualism, the choices we make have become the main factor in the formation of our individual identities. This volume focuses on the production of self-identity by young women, who face a greater range of choices in their lives than ever before, and combines empirical interview data with cutting-edge theoretical perspectives. The author has interviewed a sample of women aged 16 to 21 in order to find out what being able to make choices means to them and how they view themselves and their lives within the cultural context of girl power. Their statements and experiences are analyzed and used to interrogate the ontological assumptions of post-structuralism, feminist theory, and reflexive modernization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275976378
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/2003
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

SHELLEY BUDGEON is Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds, U.K.

Table of Contents

Choosing a Self
Theorizing Identity
The Self as Narrative
The Event of Embodied Identity
Relations of Difference and the Reflexive Self
Intimacy and Individualised Biographies
Emergent Feminist Identity(ies)
Concluding Considerations
Interview Sites
Bibliography