In seemingly exhaustive arguments about identity as a category of analysis, we have made a critical error-one that Michael Hames-Garcia sets out to correct in this revisionary look at the making and meaning of social identities. We have asked how separate identities-of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality-come to intersect. Instead, Hames-Garcia proposes, we should begin by understanding such social identities as mutually constituting one another.

Grounded in both theoretical and political practices-in the lived realities of people's experience-Identity Complex reinvigorates identity as a key concept and as a tool for the pursuit of social justice. Hames-Garcia draws on a wide range of examples to show that social identities are central to how exploitation works, such as debates about the desirability of sexual minority identities in postcolonial contexts, questions about the reality of race, and the nature of the U.S. prison crisis.

Unless we understand precisely how identities take shape in relation to each other and within contexts of oppression, he contends, we will never be able to eradicate discrimination and social inequality. By analyzing the social interdependence of identities, Hames-Garcia seeks to enable the creation of deep connections of solidarity across differences.

About the Author

Michael Hames-Garcia is professor of ethnic studies at the University of Oregon. His books include Fugitive Thought: Prison Movements, Race, and the Meaning of Justice, also published by Minnesota.

Reviews

"Identity Complex is a brilliantly argued, much needed intervention that redefines the terms and changes the stakes of the contemporary debate over identity politics. Michael Hames-Garcia's transformative understanding of identity formations establishes his standing as the foremost scholar in the field." -Donald Pease, Dartmouth College

Book Information
ISBN 9780816649860
Author Michael Hames-Garcia
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint University of Minnesota Press
Publisher University of Minnesota Press
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 23mm