Ginebre Serra Visiting Professor in Catalan Studies at Stanford University

Identity is a Skin

Identity Debates in Europe and Latin America: from Essence to Appearance

“The deepest in man is the skin”. Paul Valéry

Traditionally, collective identity—the identity of countries, peoples, and other human groups— has been studied from the viewpoint of the question “who or what are they”—the question about the specific traits or contents that define identity. This seminar will undertake a radical epistemological turn, understanding identity as a negotiation of external recognition and internal cohesion. The focus switches from “contents” to “container,” from essence to form, from the guts to the skin. The seminar will study examples from Latin American and Europe, with their diverse strategies of identity affirmation—or invention. It will also take into consideration the current conflict between Catalonia and Spain as an original case of identity consolidation in a developed society. 

Lecture at UC Berkeley

The current social and political debates confronting Catalonia and Spain: Is there a conflict of identities?

A significant part of Catalan society is engaged in the political process of obtaining independence from Spain. This phenomenon needs to be explained through an analysis of its origins, especially the events of the last ten years, in order to better understand the roots of the conflict. Is it just a conflict of economic interests? Can we say it is also a conflict of identities? If so, how can we understand the concept of “identity”?

Salvador Cardús i Ros (1954)

PhD in Economics. Professor of Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Former Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology. He specializes in sociology of religion, immigration and identity, as a member of ISOR – Sociology of Religion, Identity and Memory (www.isor.cat). 

Recently he has been shaping a new paradigm to study contemporary identity processes and the challenges of fragmented societies in the global order as a means to negotiate recognition while avoiding difficulties of self-definition. 

He has published, among other books, Plegar de viure (with Joan Estruch, 1981), Saber el temps (1985), El desconcert de l’educació (2000), La mirada del sociólogo (2003), and El camí de la independència (2010). Professor Cardus is a regular contributor to the Barcelona daily press and a recognized lecturer in Catalonia and abroad. A member of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (the Catalan Academy of Arts), he is also a member of the Catalan Government’s Council for National Transition and Committee for the Schedule Standardization Reform.