Identity & belongingness
Identity
• Identity is a process of distinction & affirmation of the individual in comparison with others, which means determining his Personal Identity.
• Among the characteristics that distinguish individuals:
• Name
• Nationality
• Age
• Familial & occupational status, etc.
• Laws in all countries stipulate proving identity of an individual by an Identity Card, this helps the individual in his multiple dealings with all authorities that ask for what attests the identity.
• The concept of identity proves union & sustainability & they are very complicated & intermixed.
• Identity is a word derived from a Latin origin Idem which is equivalent to the English word Identity which means Sameness, or the same thing.
• The concept of identity is a western concept which was not known in our Arabic language till recently. Using this concept is attributed to the modern Arab thought at the end of 19th century & beginning of 20th century.
• Identity is acquired through social education. It grows & deepens through social reaction (sociology).
• Identity is related to many highly complicated issues, like ethnic, religious & linguistic elements…
Concept of identity also varies according to scientific branches
• Philosophy
• Logic
• History
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Politics
• Identity is a unit of complementary material & psychological elements which make the person distinct & different from another person, and the individual feels his own unit & human entity.
Belongingness:
• Belongingness is considered a philosophic dynamic concept which cannot be understood unless in a certain historic march & a determined human social context.
• Belongingness is the result of many data, dimensions & social, economic, cultural and political dimensions in the society. The concept is also psychological with social dimension. By lacking it, the person feels isolated & alienated. He feels anxious, bothered & suffers of psychic & social problems which have an effect on the unity of the society & its cohesion.
• Belongingness means therefore tie of the individual with the family, tribe or community. The individual usually wants to belong to a strong & influent community, is personified by it & unites himself to it, like family, club, homeland, company or factory of excellent position.
Belongingness:
• Opinions differ about concept of belongigness whether it is an orientation, feeling or essential psychic need, or motivation & tendency, but they all affirm that the individual cannot live without belongingness which starts small, in order to satisfy essential need of human being since his birth. This belongingness grows with growth & maturity of the individual, till it becomes belongingness to the big community which must satisfy needs of its individuals. Humans cannot feel safety, love & friendship unless through community. Human behavior has nos sense unless in a social situation.
Belongingness
- Society
- Homeland
- History
- Political dimensions
- Economic dimensions
- Social dimensions
- Cultural dimensions
- Occupation
- Tribe
- Place
Identity
• Individual
• Family
• Capacities
• Education level
• Gender
• Experiences
• Religion
Identity & belongingness as human basis
• When a human being is born in general, he belongs to his parents: mother & father. The mother feeds him & take care of him till he grows & becomes self-dependent. Through this march, the context of belongingness of humans is extended to the family, tribe, denomination, homeland, etc. however, this identity which comprises language, habits, traditions & culture is generally acquired by humans from his surrounding. Habits & traditions of southern Egypt differ from its north. People of coasts differ from those of cities & internal provinces and Bedouin ones like Sinai.
• Belonging to a piece of land that we know as homeland and our love for it do not mean that we monopolize it and forbid others to live and belong to it.
• Belongingness & identity are a thing which is acquired from living in a certain place at a certain time. It is not related to inheritance or genes. The proof is that if an Egyptian child leaves to another place directly after his birth and is adopted by a French, American or English family, he will grow and be educated as a French, an American or an English, belonging to their identity and culture. This is the result of the environment in which he grew.
Identity & belongingness as human basis
• Based on the previous interpretation, we find that belongingness & identity are not necessarily fixed, but rather changeable, according to the human context, conditions of the place, residence, occupation, positive negative experiences lived by humans, like wars, immigration, racism, or living in a harmonious & efficient context.
• Identity & real unchanged belongingness are those of human beings. The human being is the only creature who can communicate with others at distance, especially after modern technological inventions that facilitated dialogue and knowing each other at the speed of thunder.
Relation between identity & belongingness:
• Belongingness & identity are one basis emanating from total freedom for all humans, equality & justice among them and the basis of human rights for all. This is what must educate our children on it since their youth, not to anchor in them tribal spirit, racism, confessional's exclusion.
• Identity & belongingness push us to anchor values of love, freedom, equality, justice, and tolerance with others. This pushes us to real feeling of humanity, belongingness and identity.
• Unified & interactive edification
• Commitment
• Identity
• Education
• Tolerance
• Homeland
• Justice
• Collectivity
• Allegiance
• Belongingness
• Democracy
