Zach Beauchamp makes the case on Vox.com that identity politics is compatible with liberalism. Is he right? And do left-wing identity politics work in today’s America?
As to the first question, yes, but only up to a point. Liberalism is ultimately about providing each individual with the greatest possible opportunity to fulfill his potential. In the 19th century, this meant reducing the size of the state in order to reduce its power to discriminate on behalf of legally privileged groups. In the second half of the 20th century, liberalism evolved into an effort to strengthen and use the state to provide positive assistance to aggrieved members of less privileged groups. Identity politics is generally consistent with the latter approach.
Identity politics turn into a problem for liberals if the focus of government programs shifts from assistance to individuals seeking remedies for the impacts of discrimination to the undifferentiated group as a whole. Affirmative action, for example, takes action on the part of groups, but considers each claimant as an individual with unique characteristics. Reparations, on the other hand, would treat African-Americans (or at least a large subset of them) as a group without reference to individual differences. That sort of program would be a sort of feudalism in reverse; African-Americans would be the First Estate, and so on. This approach is the negation of the Enlightenment principles on which our country was founded, and the source of much fear and anger on the part of white men.
As to the second question, I have two observations:
- In a country that is diverse as ours, and mostly celebrates it, identity politics cannot be avoided. It is what it is; the test is to put it in the proper perspective with the various other claims (such as those purely based on wealth) on government.
- Left-wing identity politics in this country have led to the current backlash, which will only get worse in the foreseeable future. The eroding white majority feels threatened by demographic change, and is fighting back hard; you can expect this situation to get worse over the next ten years or so. How should the left respond? As I’ve noted before, by treating the alligators with respect until the crisis has passed, not by poking them with an identity stick.