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Encyclopedia of Identity. Ed. by Ronald L. Jackson II. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sage, 2010.2 vols, acid free $350 (ISBN 978-1-4129-51531). E-book available (978-1-4129-7930-6), $440.
There are at least two major disciplinary perspectives which have informed our understanding of identity. Psychologists often view identity as an internal, developmental process through which a person "integrates" different aspects of selfhood into a continuous and definable entity. Sociologists tend to focus on people's differentiation from others, their categorization into groups, and the various places people hold within society. To put it another way, the most recent APA Dictionary of Psychology (American Psychological Association, 2007) states that identity is "an individual's sense of self defined by (a) a set of physical and psychological characteristics that is not wholly shared with any other person and (b) a range of social and interpersonal affiliations and social roles" (463). Unfortunately, the Encyclopedia of Identity only tells half the story.
Jackson's...