Abstract
Identities, which can be defined as “any source of action, any entity to which observers can attribute meaning not explicable from biophysical regularities” (White, 2008, p. 2), seek to reduce the turmoil of social and biophysical life through control, which includes, but is not limited to, domination or coercion. Identities, which can be of any level, scale, or scope, are triggered by their ever-changing and uncertain environment (Corona and Godart, 2010). The search for control thus originates from a need for footing in a context of uncertainty that, following Knight (1921), we distinguish from risk: while risk can be dealt with through insurance mechanisms, uncertainty can never be fully insured against.
This is a translation, revision, and extension of a book chapter written in 2010, in French, by White, Godart, and Thiemann (2010).
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© 2013 François Dépelteau and Christopher Powell
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White, H.C., Godart, F.C., Thiemann, M. (2013). Turning Points and the Space of Possibles: A Relational Perspective on the Different Forms of Uncertainty. In: Dépelteau, F., Powell, C. (eds) Applying Relational Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137407009_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137407009_6
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