Intimacy: From Transformation to Transmutation

• Authors: Gabriel Bianchi
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper reflects the historical and current dynamism of the concept of intimacy. Besides differences between scientific disciplines in understanding what the substance of intimacy is, the recent discourse on change in intimacy has been dominated by the transformation theme introduced by Anthony Giddens (1992). Led by reflections of Richard Sennett (1986) the author draws attention to the opposite aspect of change in intimacy-the change in content, or the "transmutation" of intimacy. Transmutation of intimacy-the substitution of the satisfaction of intimate needs with identity creation-not only contests the very essence of intimacy, but also constitutes a significant challenge for the project of intimate citizenship (Plummer 2003).

Keywords

EN

intimacy; transformation; transmutation; intimate citizenship

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-8

Dates

published

2010-03-01

online

2010-03-18

Contributors

author

Gabriel Bianchi

• Department of Social and Biological Communication - Centre of Excellence for Research on Citizenship and Participation: Facing the Challenges of 21st Century, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

References

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• Evans, D. T.Sexual Citizenship. London: Routledge, 1993.
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• Marshall, T. H.Citizenship and Social Class and other Essays. Cambridge: CUP, 1950.
• Plummer, K.Telling Sexual Stories. London: Routledge, 1995.
• Plummer, K.Intimate Citizenship. London: University of Washington Press, 2003.
• Prager, K. J.The Psychology of Intimacy. London: Guilford Press, 1995.
• Sennett, R.The Fall of Public Man. London: Faber and Faber, 1986.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10023-010-0001-4