Modern construction of ?identity?, identity politics and discussions of identity in Turkey

In a certain period of his life everyone has probably turned to himself and asked ?Who am I??. These moments, when we are all by ourselves, are those at which usually personal (or social) problems reveal themselves through a crisis. The question, no matter who asks it, owes its expression to social fragmentation emerging as a result of the dissolution of traditional forms of belonging, and to conflicts between different parts of the society. Considering the centrality of social fragmentation and conflict among major qualities of modern society, it is easier to understand why the question of ?who am I?? and especially the issue of ?identity? have an indispensible place in our lives.In this study, I have attempted to examine the historical/social developments that have caused the issue of ?identity? to be one of the fundamental discussion objects, and the identity of ?identity? (how it is constructed, the actors of its construction, and its potential to show the way towards a better and more true life). With this aim in mind, I reviewed Freud, Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg, Mead, Goffman, Husserl, Schutz and Habermas?s works on the relationship between the individual and the society in a comparative manner. Besides, in order to avoid any bias that could be caused by an examination of ?identity? as merely an individual issue, in the last section, I have discussed the collective construction of ?identity?, based on the tense relationship between nation-state/market and ?new social movements?.