R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

Self, Identity, and Collective Action

Francine Tremblay

Based on the work of George Herbert Mead, Han Joas, and Axel Honneth, as well as the author’s own personal and academic identities and journeys, Self, Identity, and Collective Action argues that the self and action are strictly related. Reading these authors provided Francine Tremblay with the theoretical ground to stand on while thinking about identity and how it is linked to civic participation. She posits that Mead’s work and its link to action must be revisited and given its rightful place in sociology, and thatsociology must be radical, committed, and passionate.

  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
Lexington Books
Pages: 186 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-66690-811-4 • Hardback • August 2023 • $95.00 • (£73.00)
978-1-66690-812-1 • eBook • August 2023 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
Subjects: Social Science / Activism & Social Justice, Social Science / Social Movements, Social Science / Social Change, Social Science / Sociology / Social Theory, Philosophy / Social

Francine Tremblay is teaching faculty at Concordia University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

-The Appearance of Identity in Our Vocabulary

-Theoretical Framework and Epistemological Choices

-René Descartes and Modernity

-Émile Durkheim and the Individual

-Conversations Procedures

Chapter One: Theoretical Framework

-George Herbert Mead and the Genesis of the Self

-Historical Notes

-The Mind: Undoing Dualism

-Language: From Gestures to Symbols

-Building the Self

-The Making of the Unique Self

-Action: The Moment of I Become an Actor

-Moral Identity: Who I Am is Defined by What I Do

-Autonomy

-Reduction of Suffering

-Everyday Life

-Moral Identity: A Work in Progress

-The Luxury of Introspection

-Recognition

Chapter Two: The Making of Marginalized Identities: From the French Revolution to Now

-The French Revolution and the Aftermath

-The Problem of Representation

-The Masses as Numbers

-La Misère

-Organized Workers

-Madness

-Industrialization

-Sexuality

-Drug Scares

-Power

-Identities and the Medical Discourse

-Race, Self and Identity

Chapter Three: The Virtual Selves

-Playing with Reality

-The Self and the New Panopticon

-The Worldwide Shopping Mall

-Virtual Discussion and Moral Identity

-Online Activism

-Discussion

Chapter Four: Self, Identity and Collective Action

-Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT)

-New Social Movement Theory (NSMT)

-Identity and Framing

-Actors and Collective Identity

-Emotion: Time to Give the Untamed Element its Rightful Place

-Mobilization – the Statues are Down. Now What?

Conclusion: A Conversation with James Dalton

-Theory

-Technology and Social Media

Bibliography

About the Author

“This is an unusual proposition: a scholarly enterprise so reflexively centered on one’s own activist self-identity. Or conversely: an activist self-identity enterprise so reflexively engaged in scholarly issues. In terms of its overall content, the manuscript can indeed be read both ways. What makes the manuscript an interesting proposition is its highly personal tone: applying sociological or philosophical concepts to personal situations and autobiographical experiences enrich their content. So, self-identity and self-interpretation through a very subjective point of view on both authors, theories, and concepts, as well as social reality, taken from such perspective. One leaves the book with the impression that an author has come alive in a journey into academia with a deep concern with social struggles aiming at giving a vivid personal voice to social justice.”


— Jean-François Côté, The University of Quebec in Montreal


This book will be of particular import to undergraduate students learning about self and society. Whereas many explorations of the self narrow the focus to questions of the individual, and sometimes appeal to social context, this work makes a compelling argument to think about the self in relation to collective action. Drawing on specific examples with regards to populations framed as "marginalized" -- sex workers, drug users, and indigenous people -- the work helps us to approach the issues with complexity. In an era of social media wherein representations and stagings of the self abound, this focus on the relevance of self for collective movement is both refreshing and reflective.


— Viviane Namaste, Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University, Montréal.


Self, Identity and Collective Action ranges across a variety of theoretical sources and traditions to provide an excellent overview of approaches to the relationship between the individual and society – the core question of the discipline of sociology. Dr. Tremblay follows in the tradition of both classical and contemporary theorists and philosophers such as Durkheim, Mead, Descartes, Foucault, and Taylor to provide not only a valuable discussion of the nature of the relationship between the individual and society, but also a fascinating story about the emergence of self, identity, and the collective within Western modernity.

This highly readable text is a model of reflexive social scientific writing. Dr. Tremblay’s presence is felt throughout the book, but it is woven together with her insights into the relationships between self and society in the best sociological tradition. The book is imbued with insights from a lifetime of study, teaching, and activism, drawing upon personal examples to illustrate how complex concepts apply to large-scale social issues as well as matters of everyday life.

This book is recommended for senior undergraduates, graduate students, and professional academics who are seeking an insightful overview of classical approaches to self, identity, and notions of the collective. Tremblay takes very complex concepts and renders them comprehensible through clear language and liberal use of examples to illustrate them in action.

Examples are often drawn from personal experiences as an activist engaged in collective action and reflect the joys and sense of accomplishment from those experiences as well as the frustrations, pains, and conflicts they produce. One of the significant contributions of this work is the way it combines theory with experiential reflection. It is a model of how the two can inform each other.


— Neil Gerlach, Carleton University


Self, Identity, and Collective Action

Cover Image
Hardback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Based on the work of George Herbert Mead, Han Joas, and Axel Honneth, as well as the author’s own personal and academic identities and journeys, Self, Identity, and Collective Action argues that the self and action are strictly related. Reading these authors provided Francine Tremblay with the theoretical ground to stand on while thinking about identity and how it is linked to civic participation. She posits that Mead’s work and its link to action must be revisited and given its rightful place in sociology, and thatsociology must be radical, committed, and passionate.

Details
Details
  • Lexington Books
    Pages: 186 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½
    978-1-66690-811-4 • Hardback • August 2023 • $95.00 • (£73.00)
    978-1-66690-812-1 • eBook • August 2023 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
    Subjects: Social Science / Activism & Social Justice, Social Science / Social Movements, Social Science / Social Change, Social Science / Sociology / Social Theory, Philosophy / Social
Author
Author
  • Francine Tremblay is teaching faculty at Concordia University.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents

    Acknowledgments

    Introduction

    -The Appearance of Identity in Our Vocabulary

    -Theoretical Framework and Epistemological Choices

    -René Descartes and Modernity

    -Émile Durkheim and the Individual

    -Conversations Procedures

    Chapter One: Theoretical Framework

    -George Herbert Mead and the Genesis of the Self

    -Historical Notes

    -The Mind: Undoing Dualism

    -Language: From Gestures to Symbols

    -Building the Self

    -The Making of the Unique Self

    -Action: The Moment of I Become an Actor

    -Moral Identity: Who I Am is Defined by What I Do

    -Autonomy

    -Reduction of Suffering

    -Everyday Life

    -Moral Identity: A Work in Progress

    -The Luxury of Introspection

    -Recognition

    Chapter Two: The Making of Marginalized Identities: From the French Revolution to Now

    -The French Revolution and the Aftermath

    -The Problem of Representation

    -The Masses as Numbers

    -La Misère

    -Organized Workers

    -Madness

    -Industrialization

    -Sexuality

    -Drug Scares

    -Power

    -Identities and the Medical Discourse

    -Race, Self and Identity

    Chapter Three: The Virtual Selves

    -Playing with Reality

    -The Self and the New Panopticon

    -The Worldwide Shopping Mall

    -Virtual Discussion and Moral Identity

    -Online Activism

    -Discussion

    Chapter Four: Self, Identity and Collective Action

    -Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT)

    -New Social Movement Theory (NSMT)

    -Identity and Framing

    -Actors and Collective Identity

    -Emotion: Time to Give the Untamed Element its Rightful Place

    -Mobilization – the Statues are Down. Now What?

    Conclusion: A Conversation with James Dalton

    -Theory

    -Technology and Social Media

    Bibliography

    About the Author

Reviews
Reviews
  • “This is an unusual proposition: a scholarly enterprise so reflexively centered on one’s own activist self-identity. Or conversely: an activist self-identity enterprise so reflexively engaged in scholarly issues. In terms of its overall content, the manuscript can indeed be read both ways. What makes the manuscript an interesting proposition is its highly personal tone: applying sociological or philosophical concepts to personal situations and autobiographical experiences enrich their content. So, self-identity and self-interpretation through a very subjective point of view on both authors, theories, and concepts, as well as social reality, taken from such perspective. One leaves the book with the impression that an author has come alive in a journey into academia with a deep concern with social struggles aiming at giving a vivid personal voice to social justice.”


    — Jean-François Côté, The University of Quebec in Montreal


    This book will be of particular import to undergraduate students learning about self and society. Whereas many explorations of the self narrow the focus to questions of the individual, and sometimes appeal to social context, this work makes a compelling argument to think about the self in relation to collective action. Drawing on specific examples with regards to populations framed as "marginalized" -- sex workers, drug users, and indigenous people -- the work helps us to approach the issues with complexity. In an era of social media wherein representations and stagings of the self abound, this focus on the relevance of self for collective movement is both refreshing and reflective.


    — Viviane Namaste, Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University, Montréal.


    Self, Identity and Collective Action ranges across a variety of theoretical sources and traditions to provide an excellent overview of approaches to the relationship between the individual and society – the core question of the discipline of sociology. Dr. Tremblay follows in the tradition of both classical and contemporary theorists and philosophers such as Durkheim, Mead, Descartes, Foucault, and Taylor to provide not only a valuable discussion of the nature of the relationship between the individual and society, but also a fascinating story about the emergence of self, identity, and the collective within Western modernity.

    This highly readable text is a model of reflexive social scientific writing. Dr. Tremblay’s presence is felt throughout the book, but it is woven together with her insights into the relationships between self and society in the best sociological tradition. The book is imbued with insights from a lifetime of study, teaching, and activism, drawing upon personal examples to illustrate how complex concepts apply to large-scale social issues as well as matters of everyday life.

    This book is recommended for senior undergraduates, graduate students, and professional academics who are seeking an insightful overview of classical approaches to self, identity, and notions of the collective. Tremblay takes very complex concepts and renders them comprehensible through clear language and liberal use of examples to illustrate them in action.

    Examples are often drawn from personal experiences as an activist engaged in collective action and reflect the joys and sense of accomplishment from those experiences as well as the frustrations, pains, and conflicts they produce. One of the significant contributions of this work is the way it combines theory with experiential reflection. It is a model of how the two can inform each other.


    — Neil Gerlach, Carleton University


ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future
  • Cover image for the book Twenty-First Century Issues: Perspective on Climate Change, Pandemic, and Digital Transformation
  • Cover image for the book Don't Stick to Sports: The American Athlete’s Fight against Injustice
  • Cover image for the book This Era of Black Activism
  • Cover image for the book Seeds of Change: The International Vegan Rights Alliance and the Vegan Rights Revolution
  • Cover image for the book We Are #ALTGOV: Social Media Resistance from the Inside
  • Cover image for the book Hip Hop and Political Voice for Young South Sudanese Australians: Born to Stand Out
  • Cover image for the book Fields of Fire: Emancipation and Resistance in Colombia
  • Cover image for the book How to Care More: Seven Skills for Personal and Social Change
  • Cover image for the book Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future
  • Cover image for the book Twenty-First Century Issues: Perspective on Climate Change, Pandemic, and Digital Transformation
  • Cover image for the book Don't Stick to Sports: The American Athlete’s Fight against Injustice
  • Cover image for the book This Era of Black Activism
  • Cover image for the book Seeds of Change: The International Vegan Rights Alliance and the Vegan Rights Revolution
  • Cover image for the book We Are #ALTGOV: Social Media Resistance from the Inside
  • Cover image for the book Hip Hop and Political Voice for Young South Sudanese Australians: Born to Stand Out
  • Cover image for the book Fields of Fire: Emancipation and Resistance in Colombia
  • Cover image for the book How to Care More: Seven Skills for Personal and Social Change
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...