Geographies of Selves—Reimagining Identity: Nos/Otras (Us/Other), las Nepantleras, and the New Tribalism Available to Purchase

This chapter explores nationalism and postnationalism, identity formation, “Raza studies,” decolonizing education, and conflict resolution–especially as these are enacted by writers, artists, scholars, and activists. Focusing on “Raza Studies y la raza,” Anzaldúa applies her theory of the Coyolxauhqui process to individual and collective identity (re)formation and develops a theory of “new tribalism”: an innovative, rhizomatic theory of affinity-based identities and a provocative alternative to both assimilation and separatism. She offers a careful, sophisticated critique of narrow nationalisms and other conservative versions of collective identity while remaining sympathetic to the identity-related concerns motivating them. Anzaldúa challenges yet does not entirely reject conventional concepts of identity and racialized social categories, thus offering important interventions into postnationalist thought. This chapter also contains extensive discussions of her innovative theories of “nepantleras” and “geographies of selves.”