The Problem of Liquid Identity

In Liquid Modernity and several subsequent books and articles, Zygmunt Bauman wrote extensively about the widespread changes taking place in contemporary society and the accelerating rate at which some of those changes are occurring. Numerous aspects of society seem to be in a state of continuous flux. This decline in societal stability is troubling in many ways, but perhaps one of its most concerning consequences is its detrimental effect on the ability of many adolescents and young adults to form a solid and stable sense of personal identity.

Identity formation has always been one of the central tasks of adolescence and young adulthood, but that task has become far more challenging for many young people in recent decades, as many of the traditional sources of personal identity have steadily deteriorated. Those sources include the following:

Unfortunately, all of these sources of identity have been in a state of decline for many people in recent years:

When the traditional anchors of personal identity are undermined, many young adults are left without any solid sense of who they are, where they are headed, or how they might find a sense of meaning and purpose in life.

Bauman has argued that as Western societies transitioned from modernism to postmodernism, there was an accompanying shift in what he called “lifestyles” or “life strategies,” and that this shift had a significant impact on identity formation. He claimed that, prior to the advent of postmodernism, most people viewed themselves as “pilgrims” en route to some future destination that would bring about their fulfillment, and that people built their identities upon this view of life. Bauman acknowledged the religious origins of the image of life in this world as a pilgrimage (more specifically, as a journey toward union with God in the afterlife, an image that guided people’s lives and gave meaning and purpose to their lives), but he asserted that this worldview became secularized over time, focusing heavily (and sometimes exclusively) on inner-worldly goals rather than a transcendent spiritual destination. Viewing oneself as a pilgrim, even in this secular sense, still tended to provide people with a source of identity and some sense of meaning and purpose in life as they followed the societal template for life, moving through the stages of getting an education, getting a job, getting married, having children, striving for a happy and prosperous family life, etc. The pilgrim metaphor gave life form and structure and an orientation toward the future as people sought to accomplish these life goals.

However, with the advent of postmodernism and its claims that life is ultimately meaningless—even absurd—the pilgrim worldview was replaced by others, with a dramatic impact on identity formation for many people. Bauman specified four of these lifestyles (the “stroller,” the “vagabond,” the “tourist,” and the “player”). There is considerable overlap among these, but the one that seems most accurate and most descriptive of the lifestyle choice that many people make in postmodern society is that of “tourist.” Rod Dreher recently provided a concise summary of this orientation toward life: “A tourist fixes his own travel plan, guided by nothing more than his desire. He wants to avoid fixed commitments, because that could impede his freedom of movement. There is no ultimate meaning to the journey, and no guarantee of companionship. The goal is to stay one step ahead of boredom.” For the tourist, the focus in life is on the maximization of pleasure in the present moment.

Prior to postmodernism, the focus was on the formation of a solid and stable identity; now, according to Bauman, the focus is on avoiding the formation of such an identity, in order to “keep the options open.” Tourists seek to avoid long-term commitments and to evade moral commitments or responsibilities. As Bauman described it, the goal is “to refuse to be ‘fixed’ one way or the other. Not to get tied to the place. Not to wed one’s life to one vocation only. Not to swear consistency and loyalty to anything and anybody.”

Bauman contended that some of this shift toward a more fluid or liquid identity is attributable to broader changes in society, including changes in the workplace that make it less possible to count on remaining in a particular line of work or in a particular career for one’s entire working life, and also the decreased “stability and trustworthiness” of interpersonal relationships, including marriage and friendships. The latter trend actually functions as both a cause and an effect of the tourist orientation toward life; as more people adopt a self-centered, transactional, and short-term approach toward relationships, relationships become increasingly superficial and transient, leading additional people to be wary of long-term commitments in relationships.

Bauman first identified the tourist orientation to life three decades ago, but if anything, this pleasure-centered, present-focused approach to life seems to have become even more widespread in the intervening years, leading increasing numbers of young adults to actively avoid the formation of a stable identity. This negative impact on identity formation has been further exacerbated by the increased popularity of “expressive individualism” over the last few decades. Expressive individualism treats personal identity as if it were infinitely malleable. Expressive individualism can seem initially appealing to some people, as it appears to loosen or even entirely remove any pre-existing constraints on one’s identity. But in reality, the deconstruction or even outright rejection of almost all traditional sources of identity formation (including one of the most basic sources of personal identity, one’s sex, as is advocated for by “gender ideology”) has only left many young people more confused as to their identity, with little or no sense of direction and purpose in their lives. Is it any wonder that so many of our adolescents and young adults report feeling anxious or depressed these days, or that some of them succumb to an attitude of nihilism and despair?

The fact that the “liquid identity” problem has multiple causes contributes to the extent and severity of the problem, but it also gives us many avenues by which to try to address this issue. Obviously, we want to continue efforts to strengthen traditional sources of identity, including increasing the rates of marriage and family formation. This would include the goal of promoting pro-marriage and pro-parenting norms and messages in our society in order to counter those who glorify a narcissistic lifestyle and trumpet the joys of a so-called child-free life. We should also strive to cultivate a healthy love of our country in our children, adolescents, and young adults in an effort to counteract the impact of school systems, universities, media outlets, social media influencers, etc., who demean our country, distort our country’s history, and minimize or ridicule our cultural heroes and their accomplishments. The goal should be to encourage a healthy pride in our country, tempered by a clear-eyed view of our country’s past and present sins (e.g., slavery and abortion, respectively), faults, and mistakes. We should also continue our efforts to point out the fallacies of expressive individualism, including the claim that personal identity is infinitely malleable and that personal freedom consists in the total, anarchic autonomy of each individual to pursue the fulfillment of his every desire.

Ideally, we would also, as a society and as individuals, ditch the tourist orientation to life, focused on maximum self-gratification in the present moment and minimal responsibilities to other people, and return to a pilgrim orientation to life that is future oriented, guided by a moral compass, open to long-term commitments in relationships, and willing to sacrifice for the sake of others. For some people, this pilgrimage might start out as more of a secular pilgrimage, but we should continue to hope and pray that all people might hear and answer the call to our real pilgrimage: the earthly journey toward eternal union with God (Catechism of the Catholic Church §769 and §1013). 

Ultimately, Christian anthropology has the deepest answers to the problem of liquid identity. God creates every single human being with the imago Dei, in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26–28), and invites each of us to share forever in his divine life and love as members of the Body of Christ. In this earthly life, we are all homo viator: people on a pilgrimage, people on the way toward God.