Theory, Culture & Society 30(6) 30–47 ! The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0263276413499189 tcs.sagepub.com Article Second-Order Animals: Cultural Techniques of Identity and Identification Thomas Macho Humboldt University, Germany Abstract This paper explores the thesis that the concept of cultural techniques should be strictly limited to symbolic technologies that allow for self-referential recursions. Writing enables one to write about writing itself; painting itself can be depicted in painting; films may feature other films. In other words, cultural techniques are defined by their ability to thematize themselves; they are second-order techniques as opposed to first-order techniques like cooking or tilling a field. To illustrate his thesis, Macho discusses a sequence of historical examples, from body signs and death masks to digital code and ID papers. These examples serve to reiterate another basic proposal that is already announced in the paper’s title. The recursive, self-observing qualities of cultural techniques make them a ‘technology of the self’ and thus render them indispensable for the generation, repetition and maintenance of identity. Keywords cultural techniques, identity, second-order observation, writing tools 1. Symbolic Animals Ever since Aristotle, humans have been seen as animals capable of speak- ing and inventing, ordering and manipulating signs. In contrast to most other animals, they make use of alphabets, number sequences, notation systems or codes: they practice cultural techniques. The term does not encompass all the techniques a culture has at its disposal, but strictly those techniques that make symbolic work possible. Every culture is Corresponding author: Thomas Macho, Humboldt-Universita ¨t zu Berlin, Institut fu ¨r Kulturwissenschaft, Georgenstr. 47, Raum 4.29, Berlin, 10117, Germany. Email: thomas.macho@cms.hu-berlin.de http://www.sagepub.net/tcs/