Identity politics
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Identity politics[a] is any form of politics that surrounds a particular identity, be it ethnic, national, gender, religious, etc. Identity politics takes on many forms, ranging from reactionary interpretations such as white supremacy or progressive stances such as anti-colonialism and revolutionary intersectionality.
Discourse
Some leftists discard identity politics entirely, claiming it distracts from class struggle. Others, often known by the pejorative "radical liberal", place identity politics over class struggle to the extent of losing their revolutionary content. The correct approach is intersectionality, or understanding the relation between class and identity so as to address both properly.
Marxist approach
Unlike the liberal understanding of identity politics, Marxists seek to understand the material conditions which created them in order to deliver true solutions. Liberal identity politics only seeks to police individual acts of bigotry rather than understanding and resolving its systemic basis.
Related concepts
Identity opportunism
Identity opportunism means to take advantage of the struggle faced by an oppressed demographic for person gain. Examples of identity opportunism include many varieties of Third Worldism.
References
Notes
- ↑ Shortened to IDpol.