Innovations and Challenges in Identity Research

Innovations and Challenges in Identity Research examines established and emergent issues within identity research. This innovative book adopts a disciplinary transcendent approach, drawing on a range of social science, humanities and human science disciplines on the way to a detailed consideration of: the history of identity as a construct the components of a poststructuralist/social constructivist approach to identity the prospect of a Marxist political economy approach to identity the interrelationship between structure and agency and a model of structuring spheres an expanded version of positioning theory the digital universe as the future of identity research. Leading researcher David Block provides a personal take on this key topic of study in applied linguistics and explains why and how discourse analysis is still a useful means through which we can understand identity today. The book is essential reading for students and academics studying and researching within the area of language and identity.

Preface 1 Revisiting identity: A short, selective history 2 Key elements in the poststructuralist/social constructivist approach to identity 3 Towards a Marxist approach to identity: From recognition and redistribution debates to a historical materialist view of being in the world 4 From structure and agency to structuring spheres 5 Expanding positioning theory 6 Applying the expanded model of positioning theory: An example 7 Conclusion References Index

David Block is InstitucióCatalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies) (ICREA) Research Professor in Sociolinguistics at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. He has published books, articles and chapters on a variety of topics, adopting in recent years a Marxist perspective in his analysis of contemporary social phenomena. He is co-editor (with Sarah Khan) of The Secret Life of English-Medium Instruction (Routledge, 2021).