Abstract

This article traces how the sociologist Norbert Elias understands what leads an individual to say ‘we', to form a mental unit with a group, but also to refuse to form a unit or to feel part of it, or even to deny being an integral part of a ‘we’ to which close interdependent relationships nonetheless like him. His social and group theory of identity, which rejects the division between the individual and society, led Elias to develop the idea that two types of image, the I-image and the We-image, organise how individuals perceive themselves, and to forge the idea that the representation they have of themselves is made up of both an I-ideal and a We-ideal. After giving a detailed presentation of this approach to identity, which, based on Freudian principles, radically alters and modifies the Freudian perspective and topic, we propose to highlight the questions it raises and, in some cases, leaves unanswered.