After delineating his theory of identity, the author draws on a wealth of historical, cultural, philosophical, literary, and psychological evidence to describe the stages by which contemporary men and women encounter and resolve crises of identity.

This interdisciplinary book overviews political and cultural identity in the context of changes across the political landscape. These changes - from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the recent Islamic revival - have profoundly altered the received ideas that define political cultures throughout the world. In this context the author draws together the diverse strands of literature to throw light on the impact on identity of a changing global environment. Peter Preston analyzes political, cultural and economic identities which lie at the centre of individual actions and social structure. This analysis is fleshed out by a detailed examination of specific regional cases, including: the realignment of Europe; the sharp rise of Pacific Asia; and the Americas after NAFTA.

What does it mean to be Chicana/o? That question might not be answered the same as it was a generation ago. As the United States witnesses a major shift in its population—from a white majority to a country where no single group predominates—the new mix not only affects relations between ethnic groups but also influences how individuals view themselves. This book addresses the development of individual and social identity within the context of these new demographic and cultural shifts. It identifies the contemporary forces that shape group identity in order to show how Chicana/os' sense of personal identity and social identity develops and how these identities are affected by changes in social relations. The authors, both nationally recognized experts in social psychology, are concerned with the subjective definitions individuals have about the social groups with which they identify, as well as with linguistic, cultural, and social contexts. Their analysis reveals what the majority of Chicanas/os experience, using examples from music, movies, and the arts to illustrate complex concepts. In considering ¿Quién Soy? ("Who Am I?"), they discuss how individuals develop a positive sense of who they are as Chicanas/os, with an emphasis on the influence of family, schools, and community. Regarding ¿Quiénes Somos? ("Who Are We?"), they explore Chicanas/os' different group memberships that define who they are as a people, particularly reviewing the colonization history of the American Southwest to show how Chicanas/os' group identity is influenced by this history. A chapter on "Language, Culture, and Community" looks at how Chicanas/os define their social identities inside and outside their communities, whether in the classroom, neighborhood, or region. In a final chapter, the authors speculate how Chicana/o identity will change as Chicanas/os become a significant proportion of the U.S. population and as such factors as immigration, intermarriage, and improvements in social standing influence the process of identification. At the end of each chapter is an engaging exercise that reinforces its main argument and shows how psychological approaches are applicable to real life. Chicana/o Identity in a Changing U.S. Society is an unprecedented introduction to psychological issues that students can relate to and understand. It complements other titles in the Mexican American Experience series to provide a balanced view of issues that affect Mexican Americans today.

Despite decades of policy interventions and awareness raising programmes, migration and mobility continue to give rise to tensions and questions of how to live together in a culturally diverse world. Managing Cultural Change takes a new approach to these challenges, re-examining responses to migration and mobility as part of a process of managing wider cultural change. Presenting research from a range of settings, from liberalising India, global workplaces in Asia, and migrant youth culture in Sydney, this book explores the manner in which cultural change disturbs established frames of reference. In considering affective responses to these liminal moments of disruption, it argues that adaptive strategies such as 'demarcating difference' and 're-placing home', that is, reasserting belonging, are deployed in order to reclaim a sense of synchronicity within the self and with a transforming external environment. With attention to the prevalence and durability of the processes and tensions inherent in cultural change, the author also examines the intercultural, or cosmopolitan, competencies developed in interaction with difference, and whether it is possible to 'teach' people these skills in order to re-find 'cultural fit' and manage change in a constantly shifting world. Contributing to research on transnational migration and mobility studies, while developing the use of conceptual tools such as 'cultural fit' and 'liminality', Managing Cultural Change will be of interest to sociologists, geographers and anthropologists working in the fields of globalisation, migration and transnational communities, ethnicity and identity, belonging and cosmopolitanism.