On purified identities

One of my favourite social thinkers of recent years is Richard Sennett. There’s one particular idea of his that deserves especial attention today – that of a purified identity.

Such an identity arises, he says, when:

The threat of being overwhelmed by difficult social interactions is dealt with by fixing a self-image in advance, by making oneself a fixed object rather than an open person liable to be touched by a social situation. (The Uses of Disorder, p6)

People with such identities “create an aura of invulnerable, unemotional competence for themselves” by screening out or devaluing evidence that conflicts with that self-image. For such people, wrote Sennett, dissonances are “interpreted as less real than the consonances with what is known.” There are numerous psychological mechanisms at work in this: the confirmation bias, strategic ignorance, Bayesian conservatism and so on.

This is what Janan Ganesh is getting at here:

It is, at bottom, an almost childlike craving for the world to have order and structure. It is an intolerance of ambiguity….Life must answer to a system of thought.

You might think that although Sennett wrote all this in 1970 it applies to “snowflakes” today who are “triggered” by microaggressions, and so want to “cancel” them.

Maybe. But the phenomenon is much wider than that. Sennett gave the examples of people who choose career paths early in life and stick to them, or who believe in “the one”, an idealized romantic partner who overshadows actual real imperfect lovers. We might add to this people whose musical tastes are fixed in their adolescence and never progress.

Such purified identities contrast with people who are more open to new experiences, more accepting of disorder and dissonance – who have, in Sennett’s words, “the courage to be self-doubting and confused.”

What’s more, said Sennett, we don’t just fix a self-identity for ourselves. We also create purified identities of societies:

The image of the community is purified of all that might convey a feeling of difference, let alone conflict, in who “we” are. In this way the myth of community solidarity is a purification ritual. (The Uses of Disorder, p36)

In this sense, “woke snowflakes” and opponents of migrants have more in common that either would like to admit. Both are trying to screen out dissonant elements in an attempt to preserve a static purified identity. All nations are imagined communities, but many on the right see Britain (or is it England?) as one in which migrants or Muslims or the poor are less than fully typical members. Which is why the left has a problem with patriotism.

Saying this shows that the distinction between the fixed purified identity and the more open personality is orthogonal to the left-right divide. The city planning debates between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, for example, are better seen as between purified and open personality types than a left-right issue. And James Scott’s Seeing Like a State is an analysis of how rulers with purified identities try to impose their fixed rationalist plans onto complex societies whilst ignoring dissonant feedback from those societies which would complicate their visions. Yes, those plans are sometimes leftist (for example the Soviet collectivization of farms), but they are sometimes not – for example shock therapy or the Chicago Boys plans for the Chilean economy in the 70s.

Those political and economic pundits who go from one wrong prediction to another without any interval of self-doubt are other examples of the purified identity: we should contrast them to those who take dissonance, error and uncertainty more seriously, and ask about the sources and limits of predictability.

It's in this context that I get irritated when Marxists are accused of having a dogma. Yes, some do: Marxism is one of the many forms that a purified identity can take. But others of us are erratic Marxists, being self-doubting and more open to dissonant evidence. A good example of this were the analytical (pdf) Marxists of the 70s and 80s, who tried to reconcile Marxism with conventional social science. They had the exact opposite of a fixed, purified identity – and in fact in retrospect their mistake was to be too open, too sceptical of conventional Marxism.

By the same token, many centrists do have purified identities, being so closed to new evidence that they don’t realize it is no longer 1997.

There’s a sharp distinction between extremism and fanaticism. You can be a cool-headed sceptical extremist (I don’t use the word “rational” because nobody is wholly rational) or a fanatical centrist. The person with a purified identity can be found across the political spectrum, as can more open-minded types.

Now, this isn't to say there's a sharp distinction between purified identities and open personalities: they are two ends of a spectrum. And we can have purified identities in some respects but not others: I think I'm more fixed and dogmatic in my political views than in my day job, for example. 

Purified identities are a mixed blessing. Zealotry and fanaticism – passion if you like – spur people to work long hours and thus succeed in their careers to a greater extent than can more open-minded people with a range of interests. This gives us great musicians, but it also gives us single-minded fanatical politicians: one reason I could never have gone into politics is that it takes too many evenings.

And even if such identities are good for our careers they might not be so great for our mental health. If you don’t embrace the dissonance between your conception of yourself and the world and reality – and accept imperfection - it can destroy you. This was brilliantly described in a great song by Dar Williams*. “Once upon a time I had control and reined my soul in tight” she sings, but this leads to suicidal thoughts until she abandons control:

Cause when you live in a world
Well it gets in to who you thought you'd be
And now I laugh at how the world changed me.

* Songs are sociological, psychological and philosophical documents, every bit as valid (if not more so) as academic research.   

Comments

[Blissex]

While I like the notion of "purified identity", this is the usual:

«screen out dissonant elements in an attempt to preserve a static purified identity [...] see Britain (or is it England?) as one in which migrants or Muslims or the poor are less than fully typical members»

Our blogger seems to me to keep arguing that opposition to "whig" politics, which seem to be assumed to be "the end of history", the absolute moral and practical good, is motivated by wrong thinking or wrong feeling.

But dislike of mixing in islamic culture, or of immigration of a reserve army of labour, or of wasting taxpayer funds on the poor, can well be motivated by quite rational (if perhaps mistakenly calculated) interests, and I think that it usually is so motivated.

Our blogger does a good service to readers in pointing out that "defective mentality" can explain some political positions, but he seems to present that as more important than material interests (or my other favourite explanation, theology).

[rsm]

《wasting taxpayer funds on the poor》

Have governments proved they can sell new bonds, often at higher prices, than they need to redeem old maturing bonds, thus providing plenty of liquidity with which to provide a generous, inflation-proofed basic income?

《my other favourite explanation, theology》

Is theology just more honest about being faith-based than economics?

《we don’t just fix a self-identity for ourselves. We also create purified identities of societies》

Does this describe Ben Friedman's pure, sacred belief that GDP growth creates tolerance, no matter how much I may protest that my lived experience contradicts that economic catechism?

[jim]

There is a great deal of ruin in the world. I think we do have to put some barriers around our psychological selves. I seldom give money to beggars telling myself - if this one, why not that etc. In a work situation told to 'sort out department X'. No matter that the whole company was dysfunctional and on the skids. So sack a few, give the illusion of action and walk away. An old soldier once said 'you can't fart against thunder'.

[ltr]

December 15, 2021

Coronavirus

United Kingdom

Cases ( 11,010,286)
Deaths ( 146,791)

Deaths per million ( 2,146)

China

Cases ( 99,923)
Deaths ( 4,636)

Deaths per million ( 3)

[ltr]

https://twitter.com/CGTNOfficial/status/1470201805954957314

CGTN @CGTNOfficial

December 13 marks China's national memorial day for the victims of the #Nanjing Massacre. #OnThisDay in 1937, Japanese troops captured the city of Nanjing. Around 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were brutally killed in over six weeks.

8:20 PM · Dec 12, 2021

[ Germany has properly and thankfully apologized for generations. Japan distressingly has never aspologized. ]

[ltr]

At Mainly Macro:

December 13, 2021

Cutting through

Legislation going through parliament at the moment is the most regressive and repressive that I can remember from a social liberal’s point of view. The right to peaceful protest without being arrested effectively ended. Criminalising refugees, and those in lifeboats saving them in the channel. Those born overseas or dual nationals will soon be able to be deported at the will of Priti Patel, without notice, which affects 6 million UK citizens. The government also wants to have the ability to override any legal decision it doesn’t like.

With a new COVID variant about to lead to an explosion of UK cases, the government is once again being totally inept at preparing for it....

-- Simon Wren-Lewis

[Blissex]

«Legislation going through parliament at the moment is the most regressive and repressive that I can remember from a social liberal’s point of view.»

Oh a "centrist" like SWL is shocked, shocked that gambling is going on in this joint! :-)
His "purified identity" is one of being a neoliberal, but of course a "nice" one, not a "nasty" one. Oh my!

In any case just look at "The Guardian", a weathervane of both what the "whig" establishment wants and what the "purified identities" of "centrists" are about: it is mostly a torrent of "two minutes of hate pieces" against Johnson's "unacceptable" character, not of opposition against government policies, even if there is a conscience-salving mention of them here and there.
Apparently replacing a nationalist thatcherite like Johnson with a globalist thatcherite is far more important than the brutally repressive legislation that has been tightening the screws on opposition since the glory days of Blair, Blunkett, Straw.

Here is a wonderful 2001 piece by notorious "centrist" Nick Cohen on that:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/sep/02/immigration.labour
“After the election, David Blunkett was promoted to the Home Office. He promised Blair he would 'make Jack Straw look like a liberal'. He was bragging, there's not a politician in Britain who can do that. But again it tells you something about the PM that Blunkett was obliged to make it.”

[Blissex]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/feb/23/constitution.terrorism
"An authoritarian state is in the process of construction
Mon 23 Feb 2004 02.13 GMT"

The process has been continuining to this day, "salami technique"-wise: a slice of rights and freedoms is cut off every year, and bit by bit the "authoritarian state" is here.

It looks as if "the Establishment" is expecting that there will be reasons for social upheavals at some point and they are incrementally preparing a wide range of legislation to repress them.

[ltr]

"The Guardian", a weathervane of both what the "whig" establishment wants and what the "purified identities" of "centrists" are about: it is mostly a torrent of "two minutes of hate pieces" against Johnson's "unacceptable" character, not of opposition against government policies, even if there is a conscience-salving mention of them here and there....

[ Perfectly and importantly expressed. ]

[ltr]

Please be careful. British data are becoming dreadful. German data are dreadful. French. Of course American data have been dreadful...

December 16, 2021

Coronavirus

United Kingdom

Cases ( 11,097,851)
Deaths ( 146,937)

Deaths per million ( 2,148)

China

Cases ( 100,000)
Deaths ( 4,636)

Deaths per million ( 3)

[rsm]

《It looks as if "the Establishment" is expecting that there will be reasons for social upheavals at some point and they are incrementally preparing a wide range of legislation to repress them.》

Should they study Tianmen, XinJiang, Hong Kong etc. to learn from the CCP masters?

[Blissex]

To learn from Hong Kong, here is a video of "freedom fighters" who were highly praised by USA Congress leaders occupying the HK parliament in a "fiery but mostly peaceful" protest in July 2019:

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/07/01/hong-kong-protesters-legislative-council-matt-rivers-vpx.cnn

as reported by the BBC too with their own video:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-49157807
“On 1 July 2019, hundreds of protesters stormed Hong Kong's Legislative Council, (Legco), spraying graffiti and defacing symbols of the Hong Kong law-making body. The ransacking of the government building marked a turning point in a protest movement against a now suspended extradition law.”

Those "freedom fighters" were just following the example of the insurrectionists who attacked the USA Capitol in October 2018:

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/04/politics/kavanaugh-protests-us-capitol/
https://www.workers.org/2018/10/39345/
«At the vote confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6, woman after woman screamed out in protest from the Senate gallery and was carried away by guards. [...] People were pounding in outrage on the closed entrance to the Senate floor. [...] U.S. Capitol Police said a total of 164 people were arrested that day for “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding.” [...] The depth of opposition to Kavanaugh was revealed when on Oct. 4 over a thousand people from throughout the country, mostly women, demonstrated on Capitol Hill. [...] At the Senate Hart Office Building, crowds saying “NO” to sexual assault and to the reactionary agenda that Kavanaugh represents flooded the atrium and every floor. Over 300 chanting, militant protesters were arrested that day. [...] There were too many acts of indignation and outrage at Kavanaugh’s nomination to list them all. [...] Outrage against Kavanaugh broke out initially on July 9 at the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill [...] During Senate Judiciary Committee hearings the first week in September, over 227 demonstrators were arrested.»

As to Sinkiang, this is a report on uyghhur "freedom fighters" doing a "fiery but mostly peaceful" protest against "immigrants":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2009_%C3%9Cr%C3%BCmqi_riots
“The first day's rioting, which involved at least 1,000 Uyghurs, began as a protest but escalated into violent attacks that mainly targeted Han people. China's People's Armed Police were deployed and two days later hundreds of Han people clashed with both police and Uyghurs. PRC officials said that a total of 197 people died, most of whom were Hans, with 1,721 others injured and many vehicles and buildings destroyed.”

All those "freedom fighters" held proudly some shiny "purified identities". :-)

[ltr]

Blissex

All those "freedom fighters" held proudly some shiny "purified identities". :-)

[ Important comment. The point now is that the United States and associates are bent on the ruining of China, though this will of course not happen. Efforts made to undermine China are increasingly self-defeating. ]

[ltr]

January 1, China will join the largest free trade network or RCEP. ASEAN * and Belt and Road are forming the prime trade and investment networks for China.

* ASEAN - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam

[rsm]

Is this blog legally accessible from mainland China, because Tiananmen never happened, despite my being there and observing no violence or vandalism in the months preceding the June 4, 1989 incident?

[ltr]

http://www.news.cn/english/2021-12/17/c_1310379395.htm

December 17, 2021

Major blow to British PM as minority party snatches "safe" Conservative seat

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a major upset in his premiership on Friday when his ruling Conservative Party lost a "safe" seat in a by-election....

[ Possibly the intellectual emptiness of the prime minister is finally coming to be both recognized and resented. ]

[ltr]

Blissex

All those "freedom fighters" held proudly some shiny "purified identities". :-)

[ What is so important about this observation, by contrast, is that Chinese policy makers are remarkably flexible and take on different policies in accord with changing conditions. The "purified identity freedom fighters" were only able to be radical and could not be accommodated and so are now of no account.

Chris Dillow wrote a fine, fine post that Blissex taught me to properly appreciate. ]

[ltr]

Ultimately, what may undermine or have already undermined the Conservative government is the intellectual inflexibility. The British economy is changing, but the Conservative government approach has not adapted and Boris Johnson may not be capable of adapting to changed conditions.

[Jan Wiklund]

One can ask why this sort of almost autistic navel-gazing has become so frequent the last decade. If somebody asked me I would guess scare. Our part of the world is visibly losing power and drive, and people lose their senses for that reason.

And scared people grab for any straw.

[rsm]

Blissex, if a protester in Seattle takes over a police station and murders occur, should I be forced into a re-education camp just because I share an ethnicity with them?

[rsm]

And before someone cites Japanese internment camps and forced American Indian schooling, has the US learned not to do that anymore? Does the CCP have a lot of catching up to do?