Escaping ‘The Identity Trap’ with political scientist Yascha Mounk

Political scientist Yascha Mounk joins Margaret Hoover to discuss his latest book, “The Identity Trap,” and rising threats to democracy on the right and left.

Mounk–a professor at Johns Hopkins University and contributing writer for The Atlantic–explains how the identity-focused politics of the left have become a “trap” that he fears is likely to produce more prejudice and division, and he traces the evolution of these ideas as they increasingly take hold in mainstream institutions.

He offers examples of the harm this “identity synthesis” has caused in education and health care, details strategies for fighting back against it, and makes the case for a more universalist political philosophy.

Mounk, who has previously written about the dangers of populism, also takes on the identity politics of the right and warns that progressives’ embrace of unpopular ideas about race and gender could send Donald Trump back to the White House. 

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, Stephens Inc., Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, The Asness Family Foundation, Kathleen and Andrew McKenna through The McKenna Family Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, and Damon Button.