Identit(y)ies and anxiet(y)ies in on-line communities

This paper presents some remarks on identity formation and the relationship this bears to transformative possibilities in on-line communities. The inability to 'read off' identity - as in embodied university classrooms - offers the promise of non-racialised/gendered/sexualised constructions of the 'Other' and therefore the presuppositions that such constructions carry with them. This presumed comp/utopia (idea of perfection) is attractive to many who work in culturally diverse environments where tensions often surface around changing local demographics (Reid, 2000). However, this paper argues - citing student focus group discussions and threads from on-line discussions - that a lack of knowledge about the ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“Otherââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ produces anxiet(y)ies. But rather than being unproductive, the anxiet(y)ies produced by ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“facelessnessââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ may have transformative potential.