New social movements of the post-war era have brought to prominence the idea that identity can be a crucial focus for political struggle. Linked to an increasing recognition that social theory itself must put the politics of identity on center stage, this volume impels social theorists not only to make sense of the "world out there", but also to make sense of differences within the discourse of theory.

Craig Calhoun is Professor of Sociology and History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the editor of Habermas and the Public Sphere (1992) and the author of Critical Social Theory, published by Blackwell in 1994.