Rosalyn Diprose offers this quote:

...ethics can be defined as the study and practice of that which constitutes one's habitat, or as the constitution of one's embodied place in the world.

As ethical beings, we locate our place in the world by relating ourselves to others. But the act of relating is inseparable from our own position (our bodies, our culture). This position is formed in part by others, by those who see us and judge us from the outside. Identity, and difference.

What makes "us", us? Who is defining us, and why? Who will benefit because the world is constructed a certain way, and what are the possibilities for resisting that construction?

These are important questions.

Later:
I've just started re-reading A Tale of Two Cities, inspired by Caterina's enthusiasm. I tried to read it once, ages ago, and I don't think I ever finished. I wasn't much for the Great Books in high school. But now, older, thinking about writing and reading in different terms, it's time to start catching up.