Abstract

"Identity" is one of the most hotly debated topics in literary theory and cultural studies. This bold and groundbreaking collection of essays argues that identity is not just socially constructed, but has real epistemic and political consequences for how people experience the world. Advocating a "postpositivist realist" approach to identity, the essays examine the ways in which theory, politics, and activism class with or complement each other, providing an alternative to the widely influential postmodernist understandings of identity. Although theoretical in orientation, this dynamic collections deals with specific social groups—Chicana/os, African Americans, gay men and lesbians, Asian Americans, and others—and concrete social issues directly related to race, ethnicity, sexuality, epistemology, and political resistance.