The Reflexive Self

The Reflexive Self is a critical discussion of
contemporary self-identity as a reflexive project,
which Anthony Giddens claims has emerged as a result
of recent and radical social upheavals in late
modernity. It initially traces the development of
an account of social change and self-identity in
Giddens s writing. The author then offers a
critical analysis of Giddens s key claims. Drawing
on a wide range of critical social and psychological
theory, the idea of a reflexively formed self-
identity is problematised by various issues: the
culturally situated nature of modern identity;
aspects of self-experience which may compromise a
reflexive understanding of the self; and the
importance of social relations of power in a
theorisation of self-identity. These discussions
are clarified by reference to various illustrative
psychosocial topics such as social class, intimacy,
fate, trust. and power. The author claims that
Giddens s notion of reflexivity needs to be
extensively revised in order to more accurately
represent contemporary forms of self-identity.