The Importance of Identity: Empowerment and Development
The father of modern western philosophy, the great French mathematician, scientist and philosopher, René Descartes famously said — cogito ergo sum, or “I think, therefore I am.” It underlines the most basic of all aspects of human nature — self-consciousness. “I” is, in all probability, the most important word a human has ever spoken.
As we developed and became “civilised,” identity took on a greater meaning. Apart from individual identity, we developed the concept of a broader identity, something that binds us to our regional, cultural and social roots. While identity is a natural gift, something a human should never endeavour to gain, we are a peculiar breed of animals. Global upheavals in times of colonisation, when powerful nations sent explorers and armadas to claim foreign lands led to many indigenous people lose their “identities.” These people faced severe identity conflicts and rapid social changes due to epidemics, forced relocation, colonisation and genocides.
Research has also shown that young indigenous people who undergo such identity conflicts and acculturation (cultural modification) stress are prone to significant health problems. Studies also show that with a sense of positive affiliation to their culture and identities, indigenous young people are more confident, healthy and resilient [1].
The era of globalisation ushered a new kind of cultural conflict. People started moving from less developed regions to economically advanced countries in search of a better life and newer opportunities, those that their ancestral regions did not afford them. These “migrants” are always given “second class” status and even if they are granted citizenship, it takes a painfully long period of time to achieve that. However, even though the government grants them all the rights of a citizen, their active participation in the country’s political discourse and policy-making remains limited.
The world is experiencing a new kind of exodus since the last few decades — the movement of people from war-torn regions to politically stable countries. Hegemonic regimes in Asia, Africa and the Middle East have forced millions of people from their homes to find safer places for themselves and for the better future of their children. These “refugees” find themselves literally uprooted from their cultures and suffer identity conflicts.
In all of these cases, the feeling of loss of identity is as real as the actual loss of identity. Due to forced movement, people are often left without proper identification documents that can attest to who they really are. Such people have no physical evidence to prove their identities and face seemingly insurmountable problems when they arrive on the shores of foreign nations seeking asylum.
We, as a modern society, have given identity a whole new meaning. We seek to limit an identity of a person with a driver’s license or government-issued identity card. However, what happens when these “physical evidences of identities” are revoked by the granting authorities? Or the person leaves the country of his or her origin and crosses geographical borders? For all accounts and purposes, the person loses his or her identity.
Losing one’s physical identity is a very real threat in these changing times. We have seen how people are displaced due to economic and political upheavals around the world. These people often come from impoverished regions of the world and seek to start a new life in a developed or advanced country. However, our definitions of identity make their integration into the new society extremely difficult. Add to it the dash of mistrust refuge-giving nations have for migrants and refugees and you’ll realise the gravity of the situation.
As I said earlier, no human being should ever face the ignominy of proving his or her identity. The very thought that “I” have to prove who “I am” can wreak the individual’s feeling of self-worth. Unfortunately, a physical, government-issued identity is of utmost importance if the individual dreams of starting all over again. This can be the most excruciatingly frustrating phase of his or her life — the time spent and wasted in getting a “new identity.”
Solving The Identity Conundrum
The solution to this “identity crisis” is the creation of a global, permanent, incorruptible identity that requires no physical proof and that can be presented on-demand. The revolutionary new distributed ledger (or: “blockchain”) technology can serve as the vehicle of such a digital identity. Because data on a blockchain is inherently incorruptible, a digital identity on the blockchain can assure safety and security.
While many roadblocks are present in the path to creating such a digital identity that can be used across multiple platforms, efforts are being put by organisations that believe that the future of personal identity is “self-sovereign.” A self-sovereign identity is essentially a user-centric identity that is completely in control of the individual. It is autonomous and as real as the psychological feeling of self-consciousness. Once achieved, it will be a true amalgamation of the natural and artificial identities of a single individual.
Anywhere in the world a person might go, either through consent or through forced migration, a self-sovereign identity would be as simple to use as just saying who I truly am. This is a dream and a vision shared by many organisations that are trying to bring in a new kind of reality. Tykn is one such organisation that shares a passion to provide digital identities to displaced people around the world.
Being a Founding Steward of the Sovrin Network, we are in a unique situation to help such individuals through the efforts of the Sovrin Foundation. With that in mind, we have kick-started Project ZINC (Zero Invisible Children) that endeavours to provide digital identities to children of refugees and displaced people.
Co-founded by Toufic (“Tey”) Al-Rjula, who himself has shared and experienced the angst of losing his identity after his birth certificate got destroyed during the Gulf War, Tykn is passionate about solving this crisis by leveraging blockchain technology and the philosophy of the Sovrin Foundation to create incorruptible, permanent digital identities for people in dire need of them.
As we have seen earlier, a positive affiliation of one’s true identity, both self and cultural, is an important factor in a person’s well-being. Only if the person feels worthy of him- or herself, can he or she contribute positively to society. This is true empowerment and only through such empowerment can we expect development to occur. If individuals do not have to worry about proving who they really are, they can contribute their skills for their own betterment as well as for the betterment of their surroundings. This can be a major factor in the growth of the economy of the nation providing refuge and asylum to such a latent workforce.
Exciting times are nigh. No longer will identities be stolen and no longer will identities be lost. We are on the verge of solving a long-standing and vital problem of creating identities for people around the world that will replace physical documents and proofs.
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