ESPRIT DE CORPS: OLD AND NEW VALUES OF A SIGNIFICANT SOCIAL IDENTITY
ESPRIT DE CORPS: OLD AND NEW VALUES OF A SIGNIFICANT SOCIAL IDENTITY

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents an epistemology of the assumption of the values of universalism and relativism. Though the main interest is to understand the present attitudes of intellectuals towards these values, the historical origin of this interesting social stratum is emphasised, as well as its ideology. This ideology may be described with the metaphor of esprit de corps. As ideology of a special social body, it is analysed from the standpoint of the concept of identity, which is not essentialist, but relational. As a result, esprit de corps appears as imagined identity, negotiated and fragmented, reflecting historical moments and social structures and relations. Those assuming this identity reject the universalistic values, and the paper highlights the present tendency of the dominant bodies to promote particularistic values.

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