The Sovereign Self

The toppling of statues in the name of anti-racism is disconcerting, as is the violence sometimes displayed towards others in the name of gender equality. The emancipation movements of the past seem to have undergone a subtle transformation: the struggle now is not so much to bring about progress but rather to denounce offenses, express indignation, and assert identities, sometimes in order to demand recognition. The individual’s commitment to self-definition and self-appreciation, understood as the exercise of a sovereign right, has become a distinctive sign of our time. Elisabeth Roudinesco takes us into the darker corners of identity thinking, where conspiracy theories, rejection of the other, and incitement to violence are often part of the mix. But she also points to several paths that could lead us away from despair and toward a possible world in which everyone can adhere to the principle according to which “I am myself, that’s all there is to it” without denying the diversity of human communities or essentializing either universality or difference. This bold and courageous interrogation of identity politics will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the state of our world today.

Acknowledgements Preface 1. Assigning Identities Beirut 2005: who am I? Secularisms The politics of Narcissus Berkeley 1996 2. The Galaxy of Gender Paris 1949: one is not born a woman Vienna 1912: Is anatomy destiny? Highlights and disappointments of gender studies Transidentities Inquisitorial follies Psychiatry in full retreat New York: Queer Nation Disseminating human gender I am neither white nor woman nor man, but half Lebanese 3. Deconstructing Race       Paris 1952: race does not exist       Colonialism and anticolonialism       “Nègre je suis”       Writing toward Algeria       Mixed-race identities 4. Postcolonialities       “Is Sartre still alive?” Descartes, a white male colonialist Flaubert and Kuchuk Hanem Tehran 1979: dreaming of a crusade The subaltern identity 5. The Labyrinth of Intersectionality Memories in dispute “Je suis Charlie” Iconoclastic rage 6. Great Replacements Oneself against all The terror of invasion “Big Other”: from Boulouris to La Campagne de France Epilogue Works Cited Notes Index