Linda Martín Alcoff

Reconsidering Identity Politics: An Introduction

Just a few years ago, the great political movements that profoundly trans-formed American society the — movements demanding voting rights, civil rights, and equality for various disenfranchised groups — were generally viewed as the natural extension of liberal ideals. These identity-based liberation movements were viewed by many Americans as confirming rather than challenging democratic institutions, and expanding rather than threatening popular political values. Recently, this positive view of minority social movements has been transformed. Identity-based liberation movements and their politically active constituencies, which include ethnic and racial groups, women’s groups, gay and lesbian groups, and disability groups, have come under sustained attack by people on both the Left and the Right of the political spectrum in the debates over multiculturalism, identity politics, and political correctness. Thinkers as different in their political perspectives as Nathan Glazer and Judith Butler seem to agree at least on this one point—that identity-based social struggles are politically limited and misguided. Identity-based groups are widely portrayed as having an “agenda,” they are called “special interest groups,” and their leadership is often portrayed as opportunists uninterested in, even opposed to, the common public good. For those on the Right, these movements appear to be threatening individual freedom, while for those on the Left, they are seen as threatening the progressive coalition and wallowing in victimization.