Collective identities are not only a current social topic – but also a fundamental concept based on social and cultural studies: What is a "collective" or a "society", how does it come into being and how are individual identity and collective identity connected? This introduction touches on disciplines and debates, exploring the virulence of desire of a collective identity as well as the versatility with which it is contemplated, researched and criticized – all the way towards the thesis of the necessity and impossibility of collective identity. The introduction addresses students of the social and cultural sciences as well as anyone interested in and committed to social issues.
