Wealth Of Selves: Multiple Identities, Mestiza Consciousness, and the Subject of Politics

All of us have multiple identities. Yet, as Edwina Barvosa argues, we are not always aware of the influence of our multiplicity on our selves or on political life. Wealth of Selves explores the everyday character and political consequences of multiple identities, blending insights from various disciplines to forge an overarching theoretical framework for understanding multiple identities in political context. Through this original framework, Barvosa analyzes the shape and politics of multiple identities in terms of identity contradictions, the intersections among identities, and the political potential that lies within practices she refers to as selfcraft.
This reconsideration of the self promises to reshape our thinking on issues such as immigrant incorporation, national identity, political participation, the socially constructed sources of the will and political critique, and the longevity of racial and gender conflicts.
With its accessible style and rich cross-pollination among disciplines, Wealth of Selves will reward readers in political science, philosophy, race, ethnic, and American studies, as well as in borderlands, sexuality, and gender studies.

Edwina Barvosa is associate professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.