What is "individualization"

Individualization \In`di*vid`u*al*i*za"tion\, n. [Cf. F. individualization.] The act of individualizing; the state of being individualized; individuation.

alt. The act of individualizing; the state of being individualized. n. The act of individualizing; the state of being individualized.

n. discriminating the individual from the generic group or species [syn: individualisation, individuation]

Individualization may refer to

• discrimination or perception of the individual within a group or species
  • identification in forensics and intelligence
• the development of individual traits
  • a central concept in the philosophy of C. G. Jung on personal development, under the term individuation.
  • in sociology and political theory, a process towards individualism (so in Hans T. Blokland, Georg Simmel, Ferdinand Tönnies)
  • in recent sociology ( Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim, Zygmunt Bauman) the consequence of social changes in late modernity, in which individuals are increasingly required to construct their own lives.
• in economics, separate taxation of married couples
• personalization; using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals
• Personalized learning