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forceasidentitiesthroughthework.
.
.thatconstitute[s]ourotherperspec-
tivesonidentity”(Gee,2001,p.102).
Thesecondperspectiveonidentityiscalledtheinstitutionalidentityand
itssourceofpowerisnotnaturebutaninstitution.Powerhereworks
throughtheimposingofadministrativemechanisms,suchaslaws,tradi-
tions,rules,andresponsibilities,whichpositionandrecognizesomeindi-
viduals,butnotothers,andmakethemcarryoutcertainactivitiesthatthey
wouldnotperformunlesstheyoccupiedtheirposition.
Thethirdperspectiveonidentityislabelledthediscursiveperspective,
andthesourceofpowerishereneithernaturenoraninstitution,butwhat
Gee(2001,p.103)callsHrationalindividuals”whocanrightlyrecognize
apersonasbeingHacertainkindofperson”.Whatdiffersthisidentityfrom
thepreviousoneisthefactthatininstitutionalidentity,Hrationalindividu-
als”wouldbeforcedtorelyoninstitutionalpracticestoconstructandmain-
tainI-Identities,andwoulddothisthankstotheirinstitutionalauthority,
ritualsorrules.IntheD-Identity,however,theycandothisontheirownini-
tiative,basingondiscoursesanddialogues,withoutresortingtoHtheovert
sanctionandsupportof‘official’institutionsthatcome,insomesense,
to‘own’thoseidentities”(Gee,2001,p.103).TheproblemwithD-Identities
ishowmuchtheyreallysayaboutaperson’sachievementandhowmuch
isascribedtothatperson,asseenthroughtheeyesofothers.Therefore,
aD-Identityisusuallyseenaseitherascriptionoraccomplishment.
Thefourthperspectiveonidentityislabelledtheaffinityperspectiveand
itsdistinctivefeatureisasetofpractices.Inotherwords,theA-Identityis
createdandsustainedbysharinginterestswithotherpeople,byclaimingal-
legiancetocertainactivities,orbytakingpartinspecificpracticesthatpro-
ducerequisiteexperiences.Gee(2001,p.105)stressesthefactthatthealle-
giancetoasetofjointexperiencestakesprecedenceovertheallegiance
tootherpeoplewithrespecttosharedcultureortraits.Therefore,itrefersto
commonendeavoursthatconstructandprotectgroupmembership,rather
thaninstitutionsordiscourseanddialogue.
HoweverbroadGee’sdefinitionofidentityis,thefourperspectivesrefer-
ringtoitsdifferentdimensionscanbeeffectivelyusedasananalyticinstru-
mentforexploringidentity(Brownetal.,2005;Davey,2013),includinguni-
versityteachers’professionalidentity(Nagatomo,2012).Gee’s(2001)concep-
tualizationcanbeusefulinobtainingapictureofhowpeopleidentifyas
professionalsinwhichtheA-identitycanalsoinvolveWenger’s(1998)en-
gagementinpractice,whereastheI-identitycanbecomparedtohiscon-
structofalignment.
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