Identity without Selfhood by Mariam Fraser

Identity without Selfhood by Mariam Fraser

Identity without Selfhood proposes a conception of identity and subjectivity in the context of recent post-structuralist and queer debates. The author argues that efforts to analyse and even 'deconstruct' identity and selfhood still rely on certain core Western techniques of identity such as individuality, boundedness, autonomy, self-realisation and narrative. In a detailed study of biographical, media and academic representations of Simone de Beauvoir, Dr Fraser illustrates that bisexuality, by contrast, is discursively produced as an identity which exceeds the confines of the self and especially the individuality ascribed to de Beauvoir. In the course of this analysis, she draws attention to the high costs incurred by processes of subjectification. it is in the light of these costs that, while drawing substantially on, and expanding, Foucault's notion of techniques of the self, the argument presented in the book also offers a critique of Foucault's work from a Deleuzo-Guattarian perspective.

"If any text marks the coming of age of bisexuality as an academic subject, Mariam Fraser's Identity Without Selfhood: Simone de Beauvoir and Bisexuality may be the one" Bi Books
"Fraser's book makes a major contribution to recent scholarship in feminist, poststructural, and queer theories of subjectivity, the body, and identity..." Janet Wirth-Cauchon, American Journal of Sociology

Lury, Celia: - For a long time I have had two main areas of research interest: sociology of culture and feminist theory. My contributions to a sociology of culture draw upon the findings of a series of funded empirical research projects, exploring contemporary developments in the culture industry with a special focus on changing cultural forms. Following the publication of the jointly authored book on The Global Culture Industry: The Mediation of Things (with Lash, Polity, 2007), I am developing my research interest in the question of cultural change through my participation in a 20-partner EU-funded interdisciplinary network on 'A Topological Approach to Cultural Dynamics'. This network - which draws on recent developments in philosophy and mathematical thinking to address questions of cultural and social change, space and intensity - is part of what has been called a topological turn in cultural theory. My ideas on what this might mean are developed in recent and forthcoming publications including the Introduction to a Special Issue of the European Journal of Social Theory on 'What is the empirical?', co-edited with Lisa Adkins and an article on 'Brands as assemblage: assembling culture' to appear in the journal Cultural Economy (forthcoming). It will also inform the book (co-edited with Nina Wakeford) on Inventive Methods, (Routledge). I continue to be interested in brands and branding (Brands: the logos of the global cultural economy, 2004 as I have found them illuminating objects to think with as well as problematic objects to live with/out. I am enthusiastic about the new MA in Brands, Communication and Culture that is just starting at Goldsmiths (organised by Dr Liz Moor in Media and Communications, but with the involvement of myself and others in Sociology). My contributions to feminist theory primarily concern the issue of gender as a kind of becoming (Prosthetic Culture, Feminism and Autobiography) and the changing significance of gender as a social and natural category (Global Nature, Global Culture). I have participate in the annual conferences and workshops linked to the MA Gender, Culture and Media.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521623575
ISBN 10	052162357X
Title	Identity without Selfhood
Author	Mariam Fraser
Series	Cambridge Cultural Social Studies
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	1999-04-22
Number of pages	228
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.