Identification with the Human Species: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century

Human Relations · 1997 · Volume 50 · Issue 8

Abstract

The unanticipated proliferation of ethnic conflicts, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern European satellites, poses a perplexing question: Can human beings develop an identification with more inclusive social units than ethnic/racial groupings and nation-states? A concentric circle model is presented of multiple identities, from the self to the human species. Achieving an identification with the human species-a substantial challenge for the twenty-first century-would have profound implications for the incidence and resolution of interethnic and international conflicts.

Keywords

identification with the human species, socialization process, human rights, transnational developments, concentric circle model of identification, communication in cyberspace, global village

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