Giddens Modern Perspective And Self-identity

Antony Giddens' self-identity theory is integrated with his thought of modernity, which is shown clearly in his book Modernity and Self-identity. In fact, modernity can be safely regarded as the attributive of his self-identity.So, when discussing Giddens' self-identity theory, we should not go beyond his horizon of modernity. Such rule is strictly observed in this very thesis. Firstly, Giddens' modernity thought is outlined by the way of being interpreted from the perspective of institutional dimension together with globalization dimension. Then, taking several typical characteristics of modernity as examples, I take a study on how a individual should react to the changes that have taken place in modern society. Those various reactions also display the fact that the individual is moulded by modernity; on the other hand, the individual is not the passive entity who has no choice but to accept the moulding. He is able to inflict some influence on modernity by institutional reflexivity and social movement, etc. By doing so, the individual attain the goal of moulding modernity. Such kind of moulding is just like that of the inter-action between two kinds of forces. In this thesis, I mainly study the aspect of the individual's being moulded by modernity.One of the characteristics of modernity is that it has escaped from the bound of the nature and the tradition although both of them still have some influence on modernity.The coming of globalization strengthens the link between individuals, which has both positive and negative effects on the individual. Viewed from the positive perspective, the individual gets more open-minded. He also has got more choices and broader space in achieving his self-realization; Viewed from the negative perspective, the individual is getting lost and feeling perplexed, some even have an identity crisis as they are facing a rapidly changing world influenced by globalization and multi-value orientation. To make the situation worse, he has no tradition to rely on.One of the ways out is the rising of life politics, which can help the individual strengthen modernity's advantage points and overcome its disadvantage ones. As a kind of politics on self-realization, life politics is useful in the individual's self-constitution. The general tone of the thesis is optimistic. In the final part of it, the relation between life politics and emancipatory politics is discussed too.