Concepts of the Self

Anthony Elliott is Executive Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of South Australia, where he is Research Professor of Sociology and Dean of External Engagement. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. His recent books include Reinvention, Identity Troubles and The Culture of AI.

• Introduction    1    Self, Society and Everyday Life  2    The Repression of Self     3    Technologies of the Self   4    Self, Sexuality and Gender 5    The Postmodern Self   6    The Algorithmic Self7    The Individualized Self: From Reinvention to Mobile Lives   Conclusion

"What Anthony Elliott accomplished in previous editions of this book was remarkable. Here, a fourth time around, he does it again! Few today have the range and depth of Elliott�s understanding of self theory. Fewer still can write so reliably of the classic theorists as well as the more recent queer and postmodern ones. No reader, whether student or scholar, will want to be without this brilliant book." Charles Lemert, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis PRAISE FOR THE THIRD EDITION: "This great little book contains everything you wished but did not dare to ask about the meaning of the 'self' – one of the thorniest, most contentious, exciting and enraging issues of our times and our lives in these times. To the questions you might have asked or are likely to ask yet, Elliott offers answers that are carefully weighted, balanced and realistic – drawing from the vast treasury of sociological insights and moving freely between the variety of complementary even if ostensibly adversary perspectives. Elliott's book is good to read, to learn and to think with. It helps to understand what it means to 'have a self' and 'to be oneself' – an understanding that itself is a foremost condition of both." Zygmunt Bauman "In clear, concise and elegant prose, Anthony Elliott offers an overview of theories of the self from the late nineteenth century to the present. He treats the subject of selfhood in private and individualistic terms, along with that of the socially engaged self. There is, quite simply, no better book on this subject." Madelon Sprengnether, University of Minnesota