Notes for the study of identity: From the configuration of the person to the shaping of a nation

Abstract

interest in all things Mexican is nothing new in the field of social and humanistic disciplines. Throughout the history of our country there have been many attempts to establish, consolidate and understand what it means to be Mexican as an identity phenomenon; however, political and ideological transitions have determined both the way in which this paradigm has been theorized, as well as the conceptions and implications of it.
For those interested in the study of identity, this concept represents a methodological challenge given that it possesses characteristics that mean that it can be approached from the epistemology of different disciplines: As a cognitive system it is a subject for psychology; while its socializing, socializing and cultural dimension makes it a subject for sociology or anthropology; what can be said about its historical implications and conditioning factors; without neglecting the fact that, as it is an ontological matter, it is also the province of philosophy.
Its study, therefore, is determined by the disciplinary perspective from which it is approached, which fragments the findings and the integral understanding of this phenomenon.
In view of this situation, this proposal focuses on establishing the dialectical relationship that is articulated between individual and collective identity as entities that depend on and are subordinated to each other. Thus, by linking psychological, sociological and anthropological theory, identity can be understood through a specific historical-cultural context in which, in turn, the various national identities are configured and inserted.