Why We All Believe in 'Identity Politics'

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



Why We All Believe in 'Identity Politics'
By Timothy Dale

From ourfuture.org
July 17th, 2009


Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court this week has renewed a debate about “identity politics,” primarily because of comments she has made about the role of gender and race in judicial decision-making, and President Obama’s continued emphasis on “empathy” as a characteristic for which he was looking in his selection.

The problem with the current debate, and the conventional understanding of identity politics, is that it usually misunderstands what identity politics actually means, and the fact that all of us practice identity politics (including all of the justices already on the Supreme Court).

Commonly understood, identity politics is the idea that belonging to a certain group makes a person uniquely qualified to represent that group, or that political decisions are (and should be) based on who we are rather than what we think or believe. The common criticism of this view, then, is that our political decisions should be informed by our values and principles, rather than our identities. In reality, however, the distinction between identity and values is not at all clear-cut. Our histories, heritage, group memberships, gender, and a whole range of experiences form our identity, shape our values, and therefore form the foundation for our politics.

This does not mean that everyone who shares particular experiences or group characteristics will have the same values. Our identities are a complex interconnection of genetics, relationships and individual choices. A common misconception about identity politics is that it presumes a set of values and predicts a series of actions based merely on the groups to which a person belongs or a person’s experiences. No one actually believes in this kind of identity politics. Identity politics is the recognition that identity is a necessary but not sufficient factor for understanding how a person thinks, and predicting how that person will behave in particular circumstances. If pressed on this, very few people would disagree with this proposition. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/node/39844

[Hannah Bell]

1. Identity politics = management tool.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. I have two words which bring the value of identity politics into question.

Clarence Thomas

[BlooInBloo]

3. I refuse to use terms like "identity politics" and "reverse racism"...

And immediately doubt those who do use them.

[timeforpeace]

4. She as much as admitted a poor choice of words, so let's move on.

[marmar]

5. It's all about context. Taken in context, what she said was spot-on....

n/t