Abstract

VARGAS, Lluís Pla. Identity through Market? The Focuses of Giddens, Bauman, and Beck: Some Critical Arguments. Sociológica (Méx.) [online]. 2013, vol.28, n.80, pp.41-72. ISSN 2007-8358.

Giddens's, Bauman's, and Beck's sociological theories include the idea that contemporary individuals experience their identities as a reflective project. They argue that one of the reasons for this is the dynamic of capitalism, although, using different concepts, they indicate that the reflective project of modern identity is threatened by capitalism's inner workings and iconography. In the face of Giddens's moderate formulation, Bauman describes the existence of identikits and a fetishism of subjectivity. Beck, for his part, through his concept of individualization, makes human life depend on the market. Based on recent anthropological and sociological contributions, the author criticizes mainly the latter two approaches.

Keywords : reflective modernity; consumer society; identikits; fetishism of subjectivity; individualization.

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