Analyzing Richard Jenkins 'Social Identity'

Social Identity In the Article “Social Identity,” written by Richard Jenkins, he shows us how a person establishes a certain social identity and how people come across views of others. He also makes a strong point to show the reader how some everyday situations let us find out too much about a persons’ social identity. Just as an example, in the text Jenkins explains how an immigration official at an airport is someone who could have access to information about some of the core pieces to your social identity. Jenkins also talks about how a change in situation can really bring forth a persons’ true self-identity and how it can change at any moment. Finally Jenkins talks about how we all naturally judge people and establish impressions. Richard Jenkins main points of the article all help define what social identity is, but ultimately social identity is chosen, established by that person and can very well be changed at any time. Jenkins literal definition of social identity is, the ways in which individuals and collectivities are distinguished in their social relations with other individuals and collectivities. It is our understanding of who we are and of who other people are. He states that ones
If you look at a situation where you meet new people or lets say go out on a blind date for example, this can actually teach u a lot about your own social identity. It is never good to judge a book by its cover, but we all do it on an everyday basis. The judgments we make and blind conclusions we come up with about this new person shows us that we all feel the need to be categorized. According to Jenkins these conclusions lead to “mistaken identities.” Mistaken identities are not the worst thing in the world, but can definitely affect the individual severally and may change their social