Two Faces of Identity Politics
by Kathleen Flores YY12
People desire change.
This quote shows the main reason for creating identity politics and why it is relevant today. Some citizens experienced hardships, while others lived miserably.
Maguire (2016) defines identity politics as an alliance formed to defend political interests. According to Garza (2019), it originated from a feminist movement led by Barbara Smith and the Combahee River Collective a year before 1975. It began when they realized that campaigns need revising. Identity politics was significant in the past. After all, it helped change the lives of individuals, such as people of color. Without their movement, women would not have such freedom today. Identity politics provided social activism to uncover the neglection and devaluation concerns of the society, as supported by Garza (2019).
As mentioned earlier, identity politics brought fruitful developments in the past. However, it cannot be said to be the same now. Jisi (2020) points out that there is a rise in suspicion and disconnection within societies and nations due to identity politics. He also mentioned that China and the US are on bad terms because of this. The rising tension between these two nations is due to their distinct ideologies and governmental systems. This political war shows that identity politics indeed went astray and far from its original intention.
On another note, Brown-Dean (2020) mentioned that identity politics uses a governing strategy to attack or defend authority. An example of this political movement is the Black Lives Matter (BLM) that trended last year. It is known as a social activism against black people violence. Buchanan, Bui, & Patel (2020) regarded this as the largest campaign in American history.
Depending on one’s point of view, identity politics can either be good or bad. Some oppose it because people believe that forming around group interests promotes collective blame rather than individual obligation. Meanwhile, others find it useful for uniting groups with a purpose to fight for the common good.
References:
Brown-Dean, K. L. (2020). Op-Ed: The 2020 election did not kill off identity politics. Instead, the strategy was reborn. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-11-08/identity-politics-2020-election-born-again
Buchanan, L., Bui, Q., & Patel, J. (2020). Black lives matter may be the largest movement in U.S. History. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html
Garza, A. (2019). Identity politics: Friend or foe? Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://belonging.berkeley.edu/identity-politics-friend-or-foe
Jisi, W. (2020). How identity politics is aggravating China-US tensions. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3101282/how-identity-politics-aggravating-china-us-tensions
Maguire, L. (2016). Identity politics. Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.philosophytalk.org/blog/identity-politics
