What Makes the Identity Synthesis a Trap? Yascha Mounk on the Emergence, Appeal, and Consequences of a Defining Ideology of Our Time

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Yascha Mounk – author of the new book The Identity Trap. A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time – discusses how the identity synthesis has been created and gone mainstream; why he considers this synthesis dangerous and counterproductive; what he sees as key advantages of a liberal, more universalistic approach; and whether the ‘battle of ideas’ between the identity synthesis and liberalism is shaping up to be the defining contest of our time. Yascha Mounk is a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic and Herausgeber (publisher) of the German weekly Die Zeit. He is also the Founder of Persuasion and host of the podcast The Good Fight. Yascha Mounk is the author of five books.
The Identity Trap. A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time has been published by Penguin Press.