Society in the Self : A Theory of Identity in Democracy

"In this book, Hubert Hermans, internationally known as the creator of the dialogical self theory, launches a new and original theory in which he links society with the most intimate regions of self and identity. The basic assumption is that the self is organized as an inner society that is simultaneously functioning as part of the society at large as exemplified by developments like self-sabotage, self-radicalization, self-cure, self-government, self-nationalization, and self-internationalization. The book makes even a more radical step. It not only deals with the societal organization of the self but also poses the challenging question whether the self is democratically organized. To what extent do the different self-parts (e.g. roles, emotions, imagined others) receive freedom of expression? To what extent are they treated as equal or equivalent components of the self? The question is posed how the self, in its organizing capacity, responds to the apparent tension between freedom and equality in both the self and society. The theory has far-reaching consequences for such divergent topics as leadership in the self; cultural diversity in the self; the relationship between reason and emotion; self-empathy;, cooperation and competition between self-parts; and the role of social power in prejudice, enemy image construction, and scapegoating. The volume concludes with a trailblazing discussion of cosmopolitan, deliberative, and agonistic models of democracy and their consequences for a democratically organized self in a boundary-crossing society"-- Oxford Scholarship Online Instead of considering society as a social environment, Society in the Self begins from the assumption that society works in the deepest regions of self and identity, as expressed in phenomena like self-sabotage, self-radicalization, self-cure, self-government, self-nationalization, and self-internationalization. This leads to the central thesis that a democratic society can only function properly if it is populated by participants with a democratically organized self. In this book, an integrative model is presented that is inspired by three versions of democracy: cosmopolitan, deliberative, and agonistic democracy, with the latter focusing on the role of social power and emotions. Drawing on these democratic views, three levels of inclusiveness are distinguished in the self: personal (I as an individual), social (I as a member of a group), and global (I as a human being). A democratic self requires the flexibility of moving up and down across these levels of inclusiveness and has to find its way in fields of tension between the self and the other, and between dialogue and social power. As author Hubert Hermans explains, this theory has far reaching consequences for such divergent topics as leadership in the self, cultural diversity in the self, the relationship between reason and emotion, self-empathy, cooperation and competition between self-parts, and the role of social power in prejudice, enemy image construction, and scapegoating. The central message of this book is reflected in Mahatma Gandhi's dictum: "Be the change you want to see in the world." -- Provided by publisher Introduction: the democratic organization of self and identity -- The dynamics of society-in-the-self -- Positioning and democracy in the self -- Positioning and democracy in teams and organizations -- The positioning brain -- Social and societal over-positioning: the emergence of I-prisons -- Heterogenizing and enriching the self -- Dialogue as generative form of positioning -- Dialogical democracy in a boundary-crossing world: practical implications "In this text, Hubert Hermans, internationally known as the creator of the dialogical self theory, launches a new and original theory in which he links society with the most intimate regions of self and identity."--Résumé de l'éditeur.