Renato Ortiz examines the concept of “identity” in the contemporary global world from a sociological perspective. Pursuant to Postmodernity—which he calls “radicalized modernity”—there is a multiplicity of divisions within multiple national identities, which undermines the logic of moral, mental, and cultural wholeness. He argues that “cultural worldization” creates categories of identity (youth, consumerism) that differ from the categories used to define national identities. Because these current “identities”—which Ortiz calls “deterritorialized”—are market based, they depend on the mass media as well as the wide range of fronts on which transnational corporations operate for their cultural legitimation. In Ortiz’s view, this “worldized society” does not foster equality between identities, but instead reaffirms prejudices since the interest groups associated with those identities operate from a wide range of positions of power and legitimation.

Brazilian anthropologist and sociologist Renato Ortiz (b. 1947) is a professor of sociology at the UNICamp (Universidade de Campinas). His areas of study are issues of what he calls “worldization” and cultural hybridization, as well as Brazilian culture and the cultural industry. He was a professor at the Université de Louvain (Belgium, 1974–75) and at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (1977–84). In the United States, he was a researcher at the Latin American Institute (University of California) and at the Kellogg Institute (Notre Dame University). In Mexico, he was a visiting professor at the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia. His writings have been published in many Brazilian journals. His most widely read books are A consciência fragmentada and A moderna tradição brasileira.

The aim of Ortiz’s text is to explore the breadth of the concept of identity today. To that end, he traces its development at the boundaries of social sciences, particularly in relation to anthropology. In Ortiz’s view, identity—insofar as it is seen from the far side of that human science—requires a distinct character to ensure its centrality. On the basis of the concept of nation, Ortiz develops the (unifying) notion of national identity which cannot be analyzed on the same premises as the notion of identity operative in other cultures (for instance, primitive cultures). Ortiz argues that the “integration-territoriality-centrality” trio is what ensures the concept of identity a place in anthropological debate. In modernity, on the other hand, the dilution of boundaries—which is heightened in the contemporary era—undermines any attempt at the unification fundamental to territory-based identity.