Abstract
This paper seeks to transcend the division between identity theory based on pluralism that emphasizes self-social compatibility and integrative theory that focuses on incompatibility with a theory that can comprehensively capture contemporary identity.
At first, the concept of identity was idealized as the integrated modern self. However, changes in the social situation have caused constitutiveness and plurality to be emphasized. The representative point of view is the nature of the mind. “Plural identity is constructed depending on others and the social situation.”
In contrast, in recent years the rise of contemporary identity that seeks unification has been pointed out. For example, increased social fluidity leads to a fear of being rejected by society and this gives rise to the appearance of a self-identity that references the heart, brain, and other biological bodies.
“Self-narrative theory,” “body theory,” “pluralistic, circulative self-concept” are examples of perspectives that can explain such pluralistic and integrated identities. References to these shows that contemporary identify is created by “a self-organized narrator” with the body as the source of an identity that has both integrative and pluralistic properties according to the degree of adaptation to the fluidity of the social structure.
The orientation towards integration in this context is not simply a mentality that is incompatible with fluidization. It can be regarded as the beginning of an integrated identity based on subjective awareness of the self in relation to others, one that is not only mentality mismatched to fluidization but also emerging in others relationship.
However, since this identity has as a prerequisite an idealized actor, it is necessary to seek out how such identity can be realized in real society.
