Abstract

Modern globalization processes unify social values and national cultures from the one hand, but from the other – produce one of the main problems of contemporaneity – the problem of identity. This issue is extensively studied at one time with the study of social transformations the globalization caused to. The research goal is to justify the use of the term «identity» as fundamental one when analyzing the ethnonational component of society. The history of the emergence of scientific interest in the term «identity» is marked. The comparative analysis is implemented and the peculiarities of formation of ethnic identity are revealed on the basis of the research results in other fields of science. The main principle in this process is determination of an individual’s dispositions «own» – «other». Special attention is paid to two types of identity – personal and collective identities, which by nature have opposite function. The necessity of semantic distinction of the concepts that are the parts of the multivalued category «identity» is justified.