[1] Identity is about belonging, about what
you have in common with some people and
what differentiates you from the others. At its
most basic it gives you a sense of personal
[5] location, the stable core to your individuality.
But it is also about your social relationships,
your complex involvement with others, and in
the modern world these have become even
more complex and confusing. Each of us lives
[10] with a variety of potentially contradictory
identities, which battle within us ........
allegiance: as men or women, black and
white, straight or gay, able-bodied or
disabled. The list if potentially infinite, and so
[15] therefore are our possible belongings. Which
of them we focus on, bring to the fore,
“identify” with, depends on a host of factors.
At the center, however, are the values we
share with others.
[20] Identities are not neutral. ........ the quest
for identity are different, and often conflicting
values. By saying who we are, we are also
striving to express what we are, what we
believe and what we desire.(…)
[25] All this makes debates over values
particularly fraught and delicate: they are not
simply speculations ........ the world and our
place in it; they touch on fundamental, and
deeply felt issues about who we are and what
[30] we want to become. They also pose political
questions: how to achieve reconciliation
between our collective needs as human
beings and our specific needs as individuals
and members of diverse communities, how to
[35] balance the universal and the particular.
These are not new questions, but they are
likely, nevertheless, to loom ever-larger as we
engage with the certainty of uncertainty that
characterizes ‘new times’.
[40] The basic issue can be stated ........
simply: by what criteria can we choose
between the conflicting claims of differences?
To ask the question immediately underlines
the poverty of our thinking about this. Can
[45] the rights of a group obliterate the rights of
an individual? Should the morality of one
sector be allowed to limit the freedom of
others? To what extent should one particular
definition of the good and the just prevail
[50] over others? These are ancient questions, but
the alarming fact is that one still lacks a
common language for addressing them, let
alone resolving them.
WEEKS, J. The Value of Difference. In: RUTHEFORD, J. ed. Identity, Culture, Difference. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1990. p. 88.
De acordo com o texto, a palavra as (l. 37) significa
