Cirrus@Austlit

'Identity is often imagined collectively, as a function of which groups one belongs tom, or perhaps more importantly, as a function of which groups one does not belong to. This dialectic between the in-group - 'us' - and the out-group - 'them' - is not a simple binary opposition but a complex network of many variables based on supposed differences : nationality, religion, race, economic class, gender and sexual orientation, to name just a few. Within a social milieu, identity depends on the creation of difference, of an 'Other'; more disturbing is the frequent creation of a corresponding scale of value that rates the 'Other' as somehow inferior, which can have some real-world consequences on those who are 'Othered': discrimination, marginalization, exclusion...'(Introduction)