New Perspectives on the Ontology of Social Identities

The purpose of the workshop is to expand and develop cutting-edge work in social ontology around issues of identity. General topics or methodological approaches might include the social ontology of groups, the limits of traditional accounts of social identities in general and of specific social identities, the relationship between social affordances and social identity, embodied cognition and enactivism within social identity, conferralism, oppression’s relationship to social identity, modes of social constructivism, the relation between language and social identities, and others. Of special importance in these conversations are potential connections to other disciplines, such as ecological psychology, sociology, or history, which broaden the scope and tools of philosophical inquiry.

We understand the category of social identity very broadly, and so any list of social identities to explore, question, or develop includes those that are chosen, unchosen or that sit somewhere in between: sexuality, gender identity, class, race, ethnicity, political affiliation, generation, age groups, among others.