Globally, there appears to be an explosive engagement with the identity of their being. The urge for survival and the identity are not the gifts of the twenty first century, but have been in place since the emergence of the first unicellular organism. In their quest for survival, they fought an aggressive battle against the forces of Nature. Establishing their living security led to a subsequent quest for increasing their comfort level in existence. Battles against other living and non-living organisms for competitive survival infused in them a search for what power is and thereby to assimilate the power organic or otherwise. The developmental psychologists would vouch for the process of growth and development as a continuous struggle of organisms for their survival, establishment and identity.
Oftentimes, the struggle for survival called for cooperation and collaboration and thus a community-based approach to solving existential problems. Development of communities globally, nurtured and nourished by physical, natural and economic resources led to struggles between communities and each looking forward to establish their own identity. Thus, one could see that the identity crisis has not been limited to an individual species, between has been a part of the growth profile of all species, all communities, all races and all nations.
It is also noted that several factors have influenced the design of the identity of the species – curiosity, urge for exploration, fear, uncertainty, calamities, depletion of resources from time to time. This quest also compelled the need for a ‘level of preparedness’ of both the individual and the community. No wonder, learning for preparedness called for a periodic review of the process and the products of such learning and this led to models of education. Learning from birth to death, consequent to re-engineering of knowledge and skills led to periodic revision of the content, styles and outcomes. Fashion played a beautiful game in giving a meaning to the dreams and fantasies of the imaginative minds, thus articulation of knowledge systems in such fashions that would befit the climate of learning.
Thanks to an unpredictable explosion in the field of science and technology, the communication gateways opened up to newer and faster methods of knowledge delivery systems. Speed of knowledge and skills and their declining life cycles distorted established formats of learning curves causing anxiety and stress in competitive learning and its delivery. Speed of production outwitted market forces delivering ‘fast’ systems – from ‘fast travel’ to ‘fast foods’ – to fast accumulation of wealth. The psychological and emotional stress it caused on the health and performance profiles of individuals and the community forced them to reinvent their ‘identity’ periodically and also rediscovering themselves with newer identities.
Sustenance of identity needed greater acceptability in all market systems forcing to deliver a “Brand value”. Branding, as a message of a powerful identity provided a psychological assurance about quality, trust and value of all products. It is interesting to note that ‘Branding’ manifested in different forms in different communities through their culture, art, religious beliefs and valour. Conflicts between brands at a larger level led to wars seeking to overpower other brands and identities – to ensure supremacy of one identity over the other. In such processes, several identities were eliminated, marginalized, forced to succumb to their natural death. Efforts to paint their colour over other identities became a routine in the developmental history of the globe.
This race to establish an identity either for Supremacy, dominance or survival is interesting dynamics that the world is currently witnessing, accommodating and acknowledging whether one likes it or not. Acquisition, Dominance and Authority – ADA – seems to be the Mantra of the Modern Identity Crisis. Both individual and the society are engaging in using all domains of power – economic, social, political, cultural and administrative – to be successful and to obtain their leadership role through their identity.
Though globally several pictures and dimensions of identity exist both at the individual level as well as at the community levels, some broad formats were – culture, religion, natural resources, industrial development, agricultural production and other forms of wealth. With global dynamics in seeking newer markets through effective branding, polarization of cultures, life-styles and thought architectures started happening, thus people worldwide, started to seek off-shore experiences as ‘fashionable imports’ to give a new meaning to their own culture, brand and identity. Heathy and unhealthy diffusion of knowledge, skills, processes, products and fashions led to re-mixes which caused more exciting experiences, market opportunities, new brand structures and short lived ‘wow’ and “Aha” experiences.
Beyond markets, ‘learning preparedness’ responded to such expectations with anxiety and limited disapproval, introspecting itself periodically whether they are slowly getting outwitted, however, authentic their own knowledge systems and values were. “Gratification needs” compelled both individuals and societies to change quickly, thus promoting ‘consumerist’ tendencies globally.
We have thus arrived at the “consumerist world” – periodically enhancing our levels of consumerism of anything and everything – forcing ourselves to speedily, rather instantaneously respond, to all current changes as well as futuristic anticipatory changes. Anticipatory neurosis, anxiety syndromes have led to impatience, intolerance, aggression, disbelief and to a ‘get-away’ life systems. At a larger level, collective behaviour of the entities and units of each community, country, race and nations appear to be in a continuous quest of branding and re-branding their identity. A restless world, forcing itself to a manufactured peace and happiness, is seeking an identity for itself.
There is no question of re-tracking our steps because we have come too far. Sociologists would certainly argue that growth and development happen only that way. Chaos-peace- chaos seems to be a cycle of nature. But then, as a human race, are we moving towards an unmanageable chaos? “Sustainable development’ – is it a need or compulsion? In trying to seek newer identities are we losing the touch with the identity of our species?
The global identity crisis is certainly an on-going process. But today we have some new challenging questions before us. It is time to introspect both at the individual and the social level….
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