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Making Sense with Sam Harris

#336 — The Roots of Identity Politics

Sep 27, 2023
01:02:20
Snipd AI
Yascha Mounk discusses the concept of identity politics, skepticism about cancel culture, racial segregation in schools, ideological change on college campuses, rejection of universalism, Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, indoctrination of children, intersectionality, white privilege, institutional racism, racial preferences during the Covid pandemic, and the business model of mainstream journalism.
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Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Identity politics originated from postmodernism and the rejection of universalism, shaping political discourse.
  • The popularization of intersectionality in public discourse has led to limitations in understanding and the necessity for agreement on all related issues.

Deep dives

The origins of identity politics and the concept of identity synthesis

The podcast episode explores the origins of identity politics, tracing it back to Michel Foucault and the postmodernist movement. It highlights the rejection of universalism and the skepticism towards objective truth. It also introduces the concept of the identity synthesis, which combines different ideas about the role of identity in society and politics. Strategic essentialism, the idea of adopting essentialist identity categories for strategic purposes, is discussed as well.

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