Journal of Political Knowledge

Critical Reconsideration in the Literature on Political Identity

Document Type : Science - Research (Political Science)

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran

2 Associate Professor of Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran

10.30497/pkn.2026.248775.3296

Abstract

Political identity is a multi-layered concept situated at the intersection of social structures, systems of meaning, and the lived experiences of social actors. Existing theoretical literature has predominantly approached this phenomenon through three paradigms: essentialism, institutionalism, and discourse-centered analysis. The central question of this study is whether dominant theoretical frameworks are capable of offering a comprehensive and non-reductionist explanation of the contemporary dynamics of political identity. Employing a descriptive-analytical method and grounded in a conceptual approach within the framework of critical political sociology, this research demonstrates that essentialist perspectives, by assuming identity as fixed, fail to account for the mutable conditions of political agency. Institutionalist approaches, in focusing primarily on processes of socialization, disregard the domains of resistance and the potential for identity rearticulation. Likewise, discourse-centered perspectives, despite their attention to linguistic and semantic dimensions, risk theoretical superficiality when disconnected from the social and affective layers of identity formation. Based on this critique, the article argues for the necessity of transcending one-dimensional frameworks and proposes a multi-level model for capturing the complexity of political identity. This model rests on the intersection of structure, agency, discourse, affect, and lived experience, thereby contributing to the theoretical advancement of political sociology in analyzing the phenomenon of identity.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Journal of Political Knowledge
Volume 21, Issue 2 - Serial Number 42
ESSAY
September 2026
Pages 477-502
  • Receive Date: 17 August 2025
  • Revise Date: 18 November 2025
  • Accept Date: 24 December 2025