From the race to identity, from dispute by paradigms in “Science of the other”

Abstract

This article examines the use of three keywords (race, culture, identity) which have been applied in anthropological thinking to “define the other”. The author argues that the consecutive substitutions of the “defining terms” reflect paradigmatic shifts which correlate with political and economic changes in western history. Thus, the prevalent use of the idea of “identity” in recent anthropological studies is due to a “world in process of globalization”. The author alerts, however, that a simplifying conception of “identity” can cause errors of comprehension and vulgarize the problem.