Are labels a good thing? Many people argue that labels are oppressive and limit a person’s identity and complexity as a human. Others use it to excuse commitment by saying to their partner that they do not want to label their relationship. Alternatively, people use labels to own their identity and embrace who they are. An example includes the LGBTQ community, which distinctively labels those involved within the community. Ásta Kristjana Sveinsdottir addresses the different labels and forms of identity people associate with in her book, Categories We Live By: The construction of sex, gender, race, & other social categories.

          Ásta begins the book by introducing what she means by social categories and lays out the framework of her debate. Ásta discusses different branches of philosophy, which include social ontology, social philosophy, and metaphysics. She focuses on feminist theory as well as how different philosophical approaches answer two questions: What is the nature of social properties? How does a person maintain a social property? 

          In the first chapter of the book, Ásta discusses what social categories mean through conferred properties (Conferralist framework). Within the next few chapters, and most of the book, she discusses the different stances on sex and gender within feminist theory. The author mentions several feminist theorists including, Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler, who were influential in the distinction between sex and gender. The following chapters identify how the Conferralist framework is applied to sex and gender and then other social categories, such as race.

The majority of the book contained material, in which Ásta explains how social categories are made from other people outside of ourselves. The last chapter was the only one that discussed self-perception and how one identifies the self. It was interesting to see how the social world can influence a person and their identity, but Ásta did not expand on how one self-identifies. However, her introduction did outline that she was going to discuss social categories from different points of view. Additionally, the lack of writing on how one self-identifies indicates the impact of social influence and the power it has in a person’s life. She discusses each argument in relation to how a person identifies him/herself with little flaw in her reasoning. Her logic is consistent, and she relates social categories with political and sociological issues.

Ásta does a wonderful job relating social categories to behaviors, self-perceptions, self-understanding, and social issues. The book was very short, but also very dense. It was not a light read and one certainly needs to understand the different philosophical ideologies as well as some history of philosophy. Those who have taken a course in philosophy should find this book challenging, but understandable. Those who would benefit from reading this book include those that are philosophers, philosophy students, activists, sociologists, psychologists, social workers, lawyers, and political figures. Overall, this book does a great job addressing issues such as racism and prejudice by examining how social identities are obtained and preserved within a society.

© 2019 Brian Morreale  

Brian Morreale is a student at Daemen College