From the word alter - to make a thing different. A term central to postmodern discussions of identity in which the self is given meaning in terms of an "other". This other is posed or imagined in terms of difference. Alterity then is a state of, or condition of, otherness. The term is useful for thinking about how many peoples throughout history have been cast in the role of inferior and as the opposite of those who look down upon them. Negative qualities are projected onto these "others" and the imagined contrast with them strengthens the sense of one's own Tightness and confirms one's sense of identity.