Failed identities: on the processes and meanings of unformed alternate selves

Drawing on Susie Scott’s theory of the sociology of nothing, this chapter presents a model of failure as meaningful non-occurrence, focusing on the example of self-identities that “fail” to develop. Negatively defined phenomena can shape identity: for example, non-events, no-body figures, no-thing objects and no-where places. The chapter explores how nothing happens interactively, through relational processes, but also biographically, through the construction of meaningful non-selves. It examines two negative identity trajectories, or routes to unbecoming. Acts of commission lead to a process of dis-identification, or becoming a “non-,” whereby an individual consciously rejects, rebels against, is denied or refuses to be a certain social type. Acts of omission lead to a process of non-identification, or “non-becoming,” whereby roles that could be possible do not manifest. Illustrative examples of each route are provided from a qualitative research study, which gathered written personal stories from 28 participants.