How to do the history of the self

Abstract

The history of the self is a flourishing field. Nevertheless, there are some problems that have proven difficult to overcome, mainly concerning teleology, the universality or particularity of the self and the gap between ideas and experiences of the self. In this article, I make two methodological suggestions to address these issues. First, I propose a 'queering' of the self, inspired by recent developments in the history of sexuality. By destabilizing the modern self and writing the histories of its different and paradoxical aspects, we can better attend to continuities and discontinuities in the history of the self and break up the idea of a linear and unitary history. I distinguish 4 overlapping and intersecting axes along which discourses of the self present themselves: (1) interiority and outer orientation; (2) stability and flexibility; (3) holism and fragmentation; and (4) self-control and dispossession. Second, I propose studying 4 'practices of self' through which the self is created, namely: (1) techniques of self; (2) self-talk; (3) interpreting the self; and (4) regulating practices. Analysing these practices allows one to go beyond debates about experience versus expression, and to recognize that expressions of self are never just expressions, but make up the self itself.

Postmaterial Participatory Research: Exploring the nature of self with children

“…In this way, ontology may not be a primary motivation for social researchers, even when natural laws continue to be felt within the lifeworld (Habermas, 1996). Troubling the self requires discussions around teleology, universality or particularity of the self -with a gap between concepts and actual experiences of the self (Hofman, 2016).…”

Seeing inside the child: The Rorschach inkblot test as assessment technique in a girls’ reform school, 1938–1948.

“…This adds further evidence to the notion that the history of the inner self progressed differently for different groups 10 . Studying varied case studies within the history of the self allows us to uncover “how the self was practiced in different situations and what the effect of these practices was” (Hofman, 2016, p. 20), as Elwin Hofman has urged. While the notion of inner depth and the exploration of the underlying causes for one’s behavior may lead to increased self-understanding for these delinquent girls, the production of a psychoanalytic self also served to govern them.…”

‘Look After Yourself’

“…The move towards detailed advice campaigns reflected an effort to enlist consumers into adopting appropriate self-regulating health behaviours. By persuading consumers to engage in self-regulatory practices that aimed to prolong life, public health was contributing to new 'practices of the self ' that convinced people to interiorise health advice and show self-restraint, 26 while at the same time consuming more (albeit different) products to secure the continued success of the consumer society. Health consumerism demonstrated respect for the development of new diet markets and consequently the marketisation of nutrition and health itself.…”