Ep. 328: Guest Yascha Mounk Against Identity Politics (Part One)
Oct 30, 2023
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Guest Yascha Mounk, an intellectual historian and defender of philosophical liberalism, discusses the drawbacks and dangers of identity politics, the use of essentialist notions of identity in contemporary politics, the problematic relationship to truth, the relationship between ideas and ideological critiques, the challenges of identity politics and the response of liberal democratic structures, and a discussion on standpoint theory and authentic voices.
Identity politics combines poststructuralism and critical race theory, shaping today's social justice politics.
The intellectual foundations of identity politics include both skepticism and selective absolutism towards truth claims.
Authenticity within identity politics is challenging due to the reliance on group identity and the subjective nature of defining legitimacy.
Deep dives
The Influence of Intellectual History on Identity Politics
The podcast explores the intellectual history behind contemporary identity politics. It begins by discussing the skepticism and critique of liberal democracy put forth by Michel Foucault and its influence on postcolonial thinkers. It highlights how these ideas, combined with poststructuralism and critical race theory, have shaped the main themes and concepts in today's social justice politics. The episode also emphasizes the convergence between Marxism and the identity synthesis, where social class and identity categories become key factors in understanding the world. However, the identity synthesis lacks the universal promise and relies on group-based determinations of truth and authenticity.
Skepticism and Relativism in Identity Politics
The podcast acknowledges the skepticism and relativism present in the intellectual foundations of identity politics. It notes that while Michel Foucault and poststructuralists demonstrate skepticism towards grand narratives and objective truth, the tradition becomes politically influential through selective skepticism. Some theorists end up making absolute truth claims, asserting the existence of specialized knowledge and authentic voices based on specific identity groups. This move away from skepticism has led to simplified claims about truth, which reinforce group-based determinations and tribalism.
The Problematic Nature of Identity-Based Authenticity
The podcast highlights the inherent problem in seeking authentic voices within identity politics. It points out the contradiction of wanting to hear legitimate black voices while struggling to define what constitutes an authentic black voice. The episode reveals that a reliance on group identity as the criterion for authenticity leads to circularity and the need for independent standards to determine legitimacy. It argues that any definition of a group is normative, and attempting to arbitrate authenticity through identity ultimately involves objective reality and can be debated by anyone.
The Critique of Liberal Democracy
The podcast explores the critique of liberal democracy present in identity politics. It suggests that various radical political traditions, including Marxism and the identity synthesis, share core features because they all challenge the dominant ideology of liberalism. While Marxism proposes a universal class and universal values, the identity synthesis goes in a different direction by focusing on identity categories and rejecting the universal promise. However, both traditions aim to dismantle and reconstruct the liberal democratic framework, which they see as perpetuating various forms of discrimination and inequality.
The Liberal Response to Identity Politics
The podcast touches upon the liberal response to identity politics. It suggests that liberalism provides a framework for dealing with diverse identities and objectives without promoting a single correct way of thinking. Liberal democratic philosophy emphasizes the importance of independent standards and objective reality as a means to ensure peaceful coexistence and address various forms of discrimination. It challenges the notion that identity-based criteria should determine truth and legitimacy, highlighting the need for a more nuanced approach that goes beyond partisan loyalty and group determinations.
On The Identity Trap (2023), an intellectual history of wokeness (aka "the identity synthesis") and defense of philosophical liberalism against this set of ideas. Are our differences more important than that which unites us?
