2 - Sorting Identity

Summary

‘Stop, who goes there?’ is a precursor in World War II movies to a character presenting his papers. His identity has to be established to verify that he is not out of place, that he is authorised to be in this particular area. Who he is – his rank, age, race, or ethnicity – is of little relevance; it is much more important that he has appropriate credentials, and is therefore authorised, to pass the control point. Presenting identity papers meets the guard’s demand in this pre-digital context. Twenty-first-century digital environments still require us to submit to identification as authorisation or verification; however, these new identifications are now deeply implicated in the broader issues of identity.