{"id":33341,"date":"2023-10-11T16:33:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T23:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33341"},"modified":"2023-10-11T16:33:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T23:33:42","slug":"identity-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/identity-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s not what we see that should upset us, but the large things we cannot see that should concern us.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0These words were spoken by Dr. Martyn Percy during his first few minutes with us at Oxford University on Saturday morning. As I wrote these words in my journal, a forgotten memory slowly emerged. \u00a0Just a few minutes later he reiterated his point by saying that what\u2019s underneath the surface is what we need to deal with and that the symptoms are representative of something much deeper. \u00a0Then came the question that helped me name the memory and see it for what it was: The time in my ministry when I was confused by what was driving a sub- culture in which I worked. As Martyn Percy asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s below the surface that no one addresses anymore?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s reading helped me think with more clarity and humility about these questions. As a Christian author and speaker who spent more than 20 years ministering around the country to women\u2019s groups between 1998-2019, I witnessed first hand the confusion over identity arising as a condition of living in the modern world. \u00a0As author Francis Fukuyama writes in,\u00a0Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment<\/span>, \u201cModernization means constant change and disruption, and the opening up of choices that did not exist before.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 He explains how the freedom and degree of choice can leave people unhappy and disconnected from others. \u00a0And that\u2019s precisely how I found a generation of women whom I served: their authentic identities seeking to attach themselves to others. As I spoke individually with women between sessions, I heard how they were being seduced by other leaders and how they had been betrayed\/disrespected by power structures, causing them to want to leave the Church or their Christian faith. \u00a0I didn\u2019t feel the need to deny these younger women\u2019s lived experiences, I just couldn\u2019t identify with how isolated they were becoming and I deeply desired to help steer them back to feeling a [mutually] respected dignity.[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The symptoms I witnessed were younger women less engaged with the topics presented, coming to wrong conclusions, and very little relationship with other generations. \u00a0As Dr. Percy points out that it\u2019s not what we see that should upset us, but what\u2019s underneath[4]<\/a><\/sup>: I discovered a culture of young, professional Christian women who felt invisible. At that point in time, I\u2019d never heard the term Identity Politics; yet, that\u2019s what I was witnessing. I find Fukuyama\u2019s thoughts comforting: \u201cThere is nothing wrong with identity politics as such; it is a natural and inevitable response to injustice.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 The problem I had was I still couldn\u2019t identify what was causing the young women to feel invisible. (I did ask them what would help them feel recognized.[6]<\/a><\/sup>)<\/span><\/p>\n

From Identity to Identities<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fukuyama\u2019s chapter 11 seems pivotal to the question of what\u2019s driving our culture when he wrote about the new social movements that appeared in the 1960s, \u201cEach movement represented people who had up to then been invisible and suppressed; each resented that invisibility and wanted public recognition of their inner worth.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 It\u2019s in this chapter that I find my questions both named and addressed. Of course we want to know what\u2019s beneath the surface when any group is showing signs of detachment, isolation, resentment, anger. \u00a0However, there does come a point when identity politics becomes problematic, \u201cWhen identity is interpreted or asserted in certain specific ways . . .a cheap substitute for serious thinking. . .\u201d[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Perhaps finding cheap substitutes for serious thinking is a concern for the generations behind us? Might that be what\u2019s happening beneath the surface? A lack of serious thinking? Coming to wrong conclusions?<\/span><\/p>\n

Identity Capital<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0In 2012, Dr. Meg Jay wrote,\u00a0The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter-and how to make the Most of them Now<\/span>. One of her chapters is called\u00a0Identity Capital.<\/span>\u00a0 Identity capital is our collection of personal assets and the repertoire of individual resources that we assemble over time. \u00a0Jay writes, \u201cThere are investments we make in ourselves, the things we do well enough, or long enough, that they become a part of who we are.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Jay asserts that identity capital is what Twentysomethings bring to the adult marketplace as they build themselves over time. \u00a0Her research looks at how people resolve identity crises by working hard and exploring relationships yet warns against spending too much time in \u201cdisengaged confusion\u201d which could lead to becoming irrelevant. \u00a0What makes her argument and book sustainable for the long haul are her compassion and practical advice. Dr. Jay provides tools or rules necessary to make the most out of your twenties by showing how work, relationships, personality and even identity can change if the time is used wisely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0It seems Fukuyama\u2019s work on identity politics and Walker\u2019s work with fluidity in leadership[10]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0offer similar solutions: for a democracy or an organization to work we must agree on basic rules, tools and shared values that define larger and more integrative national identities. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Remedy For our Identity Crisis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

How might we be tasked with helping to identify basic rules or tools or shared values as leaders? Do we even want the responsibility surrounding identity politics?<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\u00a0Later on Saturday morning, Dr. Martyn Percy spoke in a bit softer tone, \u201cObligation is something that cannot be forced but must be done\u2013leadership is a heavy cargo of obligation, care, safety, well being, hope and imagination. . .If you lift the heavy cargo, you lift everyone else up. If you do, you do the work of God.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0Dr. Martin Percy<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIdentity\u202f: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment –<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0In response to these conversations, I organized a gathering of 40 women ranging in ages 21-78 who discussed the breakdown of relationships across generations which culminated in my book,\u00a0<\/span>A Friend in Me: How to be a Safe Haven for Other Women<\/span>. \u00a0Ironically, I had thought I was writing a book on connecting with God. \u00a0These discussions steered me toward helping the young women have a voice about how they felt when they entered Christian spaces. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0Kahneman,\u00a0<\/span>Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/span>. This is the same concept as what you see isn\u2019t all there is.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIdentity\u202f: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment – George Fox University. P. 115<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[6]<\/a>\u00a0Several women commented on other women\u2019s body language when they were in conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIdentity\u202f: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment – George Fox University. p. 107.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0p.115<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0Jay, \u201cThe Defining Decade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[10]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cLeading with Nothing to Lose (Undefended Leader): Walker, Simon P.:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[11]<\/a>\u00a0Dr. Martin Percy<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s not what we see that should upset us, but the large things we cannot see that should concern us.\u201d[1]\u00a0These words were spoken by Dr. Martyn Percy during his first few minutes with us at Oxford University on Saturday morning. As I wrote these words in my journal, a forgotten memory slowly emerged. \u00a0Just a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1657,2837,2706,2855,2856],"class_list":["post-33341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1657","tag-dlgp01-fukuyama-identity","tag-dlgp02-walker","tag-megjay","tag-thedefiningdecade","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33343,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33341\/revisions\/33343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}