Microsoft Word - PhD Thesis Final.pdf - University of Limpopo ...

in identities help individuals or groups to be “more distinguished” from one
another.
Imposed versus spontaneous identity creation
(formation)
Related to the above theoretical proposition, is the distinction between
imposed identity and spontaneous identity (the latter which Castells [2000]
refers to as having grown organically). Usually, identities are imposed by
dominant social actors. A common example of imposed identity is usually by
the state. In the modern age, national states, often use their power and
influence to impose new identities 72 . The values of society are going to be
the values that the state decides. On the other hand, identities which have
grown organically are those which have developed not through coercion.
These identities develop out of the mechanisms such as shared education;
language teaching; the media; and the Internet 73 .
On the issue of imposed identity, R. Jenkins talks about “a model of
internalisation which may occur if one is authoritatively labelled within an
institutional setting” 74 . However, according to Jenkins, this model is not
72 J. Muller et al, Challenges of Globalisation, p. 116.
73 Ibid, pp. 123 – 124.
74 R. Jenkins, Social Identity, p. 22.
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