“While identity construction might appear to be a profoundly personal matter it is also a social and political matter, precisely because it is deeply implicated in the struggle to develop a sense of self within a social sphere. Thus, these are not just individual issues; rather they have implications for educational practice, as well as for the social and cultural climate created in schools.” (Raible & Nieto, 218)

Raible and Nieto are right to extend identity construction beyond the personal domain. Identity is composed through identification with certain groups and reaction against other groups. An individual’s relationship to his peer groups is one sense of a “social sphere” within which identity is created. However, there is another sense of the “social sphere” within which identity is created that are paramount considerations for identity formation. The social spheres to which I refer are the personal, community, national and global domains. When one speaks of the socio-politics of identity, one must consider how any given individual has situated his or her identity within a given social sphere. Responsibilities attend all relationships between identity and the social sphere, and how one situates themselves within different social spheres determines that responsibility. For example, someone identifying as an intellectually gifted African-American male within a chronically underperforming school community might feel the responsibility to return to that community as a teacher. Another example is a Chinese woman living in New York who feels the need to advocate for globally based environmental cooperation between her home country and her country of residence.
It is, undoubtedly, much to ask of an adolescent going through the tumultuous process of identity construction to consider the social responsibilities that will stem from the way they situate themselves within their social domains. However, this is a consideration that will inevitably be faced further down the line when solidifying ones identity. Nevertheless, if the social environment that surrounded identity construction were more conducive to the process, such considerations of personal, community, national and global responsibility would be within the capabilities of adolescents to formulate and act upon.
That being said, it is important to reflect on Raible and Nieto’s point regarding the socio-political implications of identity formation. While the scope of this article does not extend to such wide ranges as national and global responsibility, I do not think the authors would disagree that the implications of identity construction in schools are reflected in the implications for society as a whole.