Andrea Spreafico

Forum: Identity - Discussing a Vague Concept

Kaufmann’s books have been examining the issue of identity in a very prolific way for several years. Here he offers a clear description of some of the most important challenges that today’s identity beliefs – religious and nationalist for example – pose to modernity. In this commentary, however, I would like to consider some basic aspects of the reasoning that emerges from his latest article. In particular, I will focus on his personal conception of identity and try to follow his spirit. In this way I will attempt – even if only through some fleeting thought – to contribute to probe and structure the debate on a notion that is often misused by researchers. It seems to me that sociology is now faced with the need to pay greater attention to the contributions, albeit quite divergent, offered by other disciplines (i.e. philosophy of the mind, mind sciences, linguistic anthropology and, above all, ethnomethodological sociology) in order to better understand the dynamics that sociologists describe using the term ‘identity’. ddAccording to the point of view I would like to unpack – as a stimulus to a discussion that has also (perhaps unfortunately) political implications – Kaufmann at times appears as the most evolved and reformative pole of an overall still ‘traditional’ way of considering identity. It is true that in Europe various politico-cultural formations oppose more and more

Lo sguardo delle Scienze sociali sull’Europa

La nota critica sullo sguardo delle scienze sociali verso l’Europa intende presentare i volumi di Sciolla, Beck e Grande, Passerini e Giddens nel contesto di un mutamento tanto delle societa di volta in volta considerate parte del Vecchio Continente, quanto degli strumenti concettuali necessari a comprendere tali trasformazioni. Ripensare la nozione stessa di societa, descrivere i cambiamenti transnazionali di quest’ultima, tentare di spiegare cosa sia e possa essere oggi l’Europa lungo dimensioni diverse, che vanno dalla discussione dei suoi aspetti identitari a quella del suo modello di coesione sociale, rappresentano alcune delle sfide piu importanti poste dall’Europa ai suoi studiosi.

L'attentato a Charlie Hebdo: una riflessione sociologica

When we witness events as those occurred in Paris on 7-9 January 2015 and in Copenhagen on 14-15 February 2015 (mentioning two among the most striking cases in a list which could include many other similar events spread all over Europe and over the years), in which young second- or third-generation immigrants often turn out to be involved, we have the wish and need to attempt to identify, at least preliminarily, hypothetical, possible explanatory factors, whether facilitating or simply intervening. As this essay aims at illustrating, those factors have to do with both the cohesion of the European societies and what is happening on the international scene. The article will only deal with the first aspect, which sometimes, however, is connected with the Isis’s enticement. In the light of the identified interrelated elements, the essay ends with a short reflection on the freedom of expression, which has been more than symbolically challenged by the above mentioned attacks.

Identità individuale come immagine

This essay sets out an approach to the study of those visual and verbal traces that, according to “common sense”, relate to individual identity. It will thus consider that identity as an image, locally constituted in the course of social interactions and open to description by the sociologist who – for example via videorecording – is able to capture not only its linguistic aspects but also, equally important, those related to its visible appearance.

L'amore nei paesi musulmani : un percorso di comprensione

This critical note proposes a review of the Fatema Mernissi’s book dealing with love in North African Arabian societies. The Moroccan sociologist outlines a picture about feelings of love, seduction, beauty and marriage in the Islamic context, using several sources: historical, literary, religious, philosophical, interviews, observations, content analysis of websites, memories and personal reflections. The result is a work that can be useful in order to undertake a path of mutual understanding between individuals referring to different constellations of cultural elements.

The Long Path from Recognition to Representation of Muslims in Italy

The Muslim community in Italy does not benefit from official recognition, which could, among other things, provide it with access to state funding. Nor does its fragmented nature favour a process of aggregation leading to the formation of a single representative body delegated to dialogue with the institutions. The government initiative establishing the Council of Italian Islam (Consulta) sought to encourage an original course in this direction, but it seems that the body is unlikely to solve the problem. The solutions adopted in various European countries and the proposals put forward by experts suggest that legal recognition cannot sidestep the question of representation and therefore calls for a process of cultural mediation.