Iris Marion Young
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297550
- eISBN:
- 9780191716751
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297556.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Critics of a politics of difference have misidentified these social movements as asserting an identity politics of recognition. Most of these movements are better understood as resisting unjust ...
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Critics of a politics of difference have misidentified these social movements as asserting an identity politics of recognition. Most of these movements are better understood as resisting unjust structural inequalities. Inclusive democratic process involves paying specific attention to group differences in order to transform preferences and maximize social knowledge.Less
Critics of a politics of difference have misidentified these social movements as asserting an identity politics of recognition. Most of these movements are better understood as resisting unjust structural inequalities. Inclusive democratic process involves paying specific attention to group differences in order to transform preferences and maximize social knowledge.
Marianne Githens
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293484
- eISBN:
- 9780191598944
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293488.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter reviews existing research about women's political recruitment focusing on women's participation in electoral politics and social movements and civic organizations. Githens proposes an ...
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This chapter reviews existing research about women's political recruitment focusing on women's participation in electoral politics and social movements and civic organizations. Githens proposes an agenda for future research on women's political recruitment that includes attention to the importance of identity politics, reference groups, perceptions of opportunity structures, political role styles, and role models.Less
This chapter reviews existing research about women's political recruitment focusing on women's participation in electoral politics and social movements and civic organizations. Githens proposes an agenda for future research on women's political recruitment that includes attention to the importance of identity politics, reference groups, perceptions of opportunity structures, political role styles, and role models.
Cécile Laborde
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199550210
- eISBN:
- 9780191720857
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199550210.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Political Theory
Chapter 8 introduces the official republican case for requiring minorities to endorse national identity and to privatise their cultural and religious differences, in the name of civic, inter-ethnic ...
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Chapter 8 introduces the official republican case for requiring minorities to endorse national identity and to privatise their cultural and religious differences, in the name of civic, inter-ethnic solidarity. It first argues that historically, republican solidarity had non-ethnic foundations, but relied on fairly high levels of cultural convergence, as shared nationality was expected to function as a civic and democratic bond. It then shows how the historical model of national assimilation served as a template for the integration of immigrants and their children in the 1980s. Finally, it suggests that the public wearing of hijab has been perceived by official republicans as a symptom of a crisis of the national model of integration, one that sets divisive identity politics against the republican politics of inclusive solidarity.Less
Chapter 8 introduces the official republican case for requiring minorities to endorse national identity and to privatise their cultural and religious differences, in the name of civic, inter-ethnic solidarity. It first argues that historically, republican solidarity had non-ethnic foundations, but relied on fairly high levels of cultural convergence, as shared nationality was expected to function as a civic and democratic bond. It then shows how the historical model of national assimilation served as a template for the integration of immigrants and their children in the 1980s. Finally, it suggests that the public wearing of hijab has been perceived by official republicans as a symptom of a crisis of the national model of integration, one that sets divisive identity politics against the republican politics of inclusive solidarity.
Cécile Laborde
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199550210
- eISBN:
- 9780191720857
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199550210.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Political Theory
Chapter 9 challenges the official republican account of civic solidarity. It first suggests that the demands of cultural integration are too burdensome on immigrants who already suffer from ...
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Chapter 9 challenges the official republican account of civic solidarity. It first suggests that the demands of cultural integration are too burdensome on immigrants who already suffer from socio-economic exclusion. It then denounces the invisible yet ubiquitous ethnicisation of social relations that is both tolerated and generated by the apparently ‘ethnic-blind’ discourse of integration. Finally, it shows that the assertion of Muslim identities in the public sphere is symptomatic either of defiant disaffiliation from the republic, or of a claim of ‘integration without assimilation’. The appropriate response in both cases is not the re-assertion of an archaic and ethnocentric model of national integration but, rather, the implementation of tougher anti-discrimination policies and the positive recognition of ethno-cultural differences in the public sphere.Less
Chapter 9 challenges the official republican account of civic solidarity. It first suggests that the demands of cultural integration are too burdensome on immigrants who already suffer from socio-economic exclusion. It then denounces the invisible yet ubiquitous ethnicisation of social relations that is both tolerated and generated by the apparently ‘ethnic-blind’ discourse of integration. Finally, it shows that the assertion of Muslim identities in the public sphere is symptomatic either of defiant disaffiliation from the republic, or of a claim of ‘integration without assimilation’. The appropriate response in both cases is not the re-assertion of an archaic and ethnocentric model of national integration but, rather, the implementation of tougher anti-discrimination policies and the positive recognition of ethno-cultural differences in the public sphere.
Nancy Whittier
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195325102
- eISBN:
- 9780199869350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325102.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter discusses the hybrid political/therapeutic approach of feminist self‐help groups of the very early 1980s, which developed an analysis of internalized oppression that linked the political ...
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This chapter discusses the hybrid political/therapeutic approach of feminist self‐help groups of the very early 1980s, which developed an analysis of internalized oppression that linked the political and the personal. Like their immediate feminist predecessors, these women constructed influential experiential knowledge about child sexual abuse, expanding on the politics and techniques of self‐help. They drew on and contributed to identity politics, constructing a collective identity as survivors. They also sought to influence how professional psychotherapy addressed child sexual abuse. They have been analyzed as part of a therapeutic turn in feminism; this chapter argues that the therapeutic turn remained fundamentally oriented toward social change.Less
This chapter discusses the hybrid political/therapeutic approach of feminist self‐help groups of the very early 1980s, which developed an analysis of internalized oppression that linked the political and the personal. Like their immediate feminist predecessors, these women constructed influential experiential knowledge about child sexual abuse, expanding on the politics and techniques of self‐help. They drew on and contributed to identity politics, constructing a collective identity as survivors. They also sought to influence how professional psychotherapy addressed child sexual abuse. They have been analyzed as part of a therapeutic turn in feminism; this chapter argues that the therapeutic turn remained fundamentally oriented toward social change.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter argues that there is yet a case to be made about the nature of identity and its political and epistemic implications. It is certainly not the case that the work we need to do is ...
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This chapter argues that there is yet a case to be made about the nature of identity and its political and epistemic implications. It is certainly not the case that the work we need to do is finished; there are numerous “authentic” problems of identity that need attending to, but we do not need to overcome identity as much as tounderstand it more deeply. An alternative account of identity is developed which will be used to show the inadequacy of the assumptions behind the critique of identity.Less
This chapter argues that there is yet a case to be made about the nature of identity and its political and epistemic implications. It is certainly not the case that the work we need to do is finished; there are numerous “authentic” problems of identity that need attending to, but we do not need to overcome identity as much as tounderstand it more deeply. An alternative account of identity is developed which will be used to show the inadequacy of the assumptions behind the critique of identity.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
The different positions people take on identity depend on the account one gives of identity's relation to the self, that is, the relationship between ascribed social categories and the lived ...
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The different positions people take on identity depend on the account one gives of identity's relation to the self, that is, the relationship between ascribed social categories and the lived experience of consciousness. Those who take identity to be an a priori problem assume a certain understanding of what consciousness is, or what the core of the self is, such that social ascriptions can operate only oppressively. This chapter develops the alternative to this account that aims to explain why the willful attachment to raced or sexed identities, identities created in conditions of oppression, is not necessarily pathological. It also explains how strongly felt identities can coexist with democratic politics and solidarity across difference. Most importantly, it explains how raced and sexed identities can be compatible with a plausible concept of autonomy and agency.Less
The different positions people take on identity depend on the account one gives of identity's relation to the self, that is, the relationship between ascribed social categories and the lived experience of consciousness. Those who take identity to be an a priori problem assume a certain understanding of what consciousness is, or what the core of the self is, such that social ascriptions can operate only oppressively. This chapter develops the alternative to this account that aims to explain why the willful attachment to raced or sexed identities, identities created in conditions of oppression, is not necessarily pathological. It also explains how strongly felt identities can coexist with democratic politics and solidarity across difference. Most importantly, it explains how raced and sexed identities can be compatible with a plausible concept of autonomy and agency.
Christopher Lee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804778701
- eISBN:
- 9780804783705
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804778701.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
The history of Asian American literature reveals the ongoing attempt to work through the fraught relationship between identity politics and literary representation. This relationship is especially ...
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The history of Asian American literature reveals the ongoing attempt to work through the fraught relationship between identity politics and literary representation. This relationship is especially evident in literary works which claim that their content represents the socio-historical world. This book argues that the reframing of the field as a critical, rather than identity-based, project nonetheless continues to rely on the logics of identity. Drawing on the writings of philosopher and literary critic Georg Lukacs, it identifies a persistent composite figure that it calls the “idealized critical subject,” which provides coherence to oppositional knowledge projects and political practices. It reframes identity as an aesthetic figure that tries to articulate the subjective conditions for knowledge. Harnessing Theodor Adorno's notion of aesthetic semblance, the book offers an alternative account of identity as a figure akin to modern artwork. Like art, it argues, identity provides access to imagined worlds that in turn wage a critique of ongoing histories and realities of racialization. This book assembles a transnational archive of literary texts by Eileen Chang, Frank Chin, Maxine Hong Kingston, Chang-rae Lee, Michael Ondaatje, and Jose Garcia Villa, revealing the intersections of subjectivity and representation, and drawing our attention to their limits.Less
The history of Asian American literature reveals the ongoing attempt to work through the fraught relationship between identity politics and literary representation. This relationship is especially evident in literary works which claim that their content represents the socio-historical world. This book argues that the reframing of the field as a critical, rather than identity-based, project nonetheless continues to rely on the logics of identity. Drawing on the writings of philosopher and literary critic Georg Lukacs, it identifies a persistent composite figure that it calls the “idealized critical subject,” which provides coherence to oppositional knowledge projects and political practices. It reframes identity as an aesthetic figure that tries to articulate the subjective conditions for knowledge. Harnessing Theodor Adorno's notion of aesthetic semblance, the book offers an alternative account of identity as a figure akin to modern artwork. Like art, it argues, identity provides access to imagined worlds that in turn wage a critique of ongoing histories and realities of racialization. This book assembles a transnational archive of literary texts by Eileen Chang, Frank Chin, Maxine Hong Kingston, Chang-rae Lee, Michael Ondaatje, and Jose Garcia Villa, revealing the intersections of subjectivity and representation, and drawing our attention to their limits.
Miriam Gazzah
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195369212
- eISBN:
- 9780199871179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369212.003.0019
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, Islam
Two musical forms highly popular among youths of Moroccan origin in the Netherlands—Maroc-hop and Shaabi—permit youths to express specific and multiple identities in local contexts. Shaabi, a popular ...
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Two musical forms highly popular among youths of Moroccan origin in the Netherlands—Maroc-hop and Shaabi—permit youths to express specific and multiple identities in local contexts. Shaabi, a popular form of Moroccan folk music used to be found mainly in the private setting of family celebrations, more recently has become a preferred form of music at public parties and concerts organized especially by and for youths of Moroccan origin. Hip-hop has no place in family celebrations, but is becoming an important tool for these youth to voice their frustrations about Dutch society. Although these youths are often identified primarily as “Muslims” in the debates on integration and minority issues, they identify themselves according to very different categories. Analyzing their musical cultures reveals how these young people use music to express their identity politics in different social contexts.Less
Two musical forms highly popular among youths of Moroccan origin in the Netherlands—Maroc-hop and Shaabi—permit youths to express specific and multiple identities in local contexts. Shaabi, a popular form of Moroccan folk music used to be found mainly in the private setting of family celebrations, more recently has become a preferred form of music at public parties and concerts organized especially by and for youths of Moroccan origin. Hip-hop has no place in family celebrations, but is becoming an important tool for these youth to voice their frustrations about Dutch society. Although these youths are often identified primarily as “Muslims” in the debates on integration and minority issues, they identify themselves according to very different categories. Analyzing their musical cultures reveals how these young people use music to express their identity politics in different social contexts.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter examines the idea that social identity itself is an a priori problem; that identities, under any description, pose dangers and commits one to mistaken assumptions when they are believed ...
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This chapter examines the idea that social identity itself is an a priori problem; that identities, under any description, pose dangers and commits one to mistaken assumptions when they are believed to be real and/or acted upon politically. It discusses identity politics and the theories of Arthur Schlesinger. Schlesinger's arguments demonstrate that the critique of identity politics often manifests ambivalence about the relevance of identity to politics. He does not really want to eradicate all identities, but to keep non-European identities from dominating American identity. Given this, one might think that what we need is simply a more consistent opposition to identities, pursued with equality across both the dominant and the subaltern. However, it is argued that such a plan is neither wholly possible nor necessary for social justice. The real danger is not the likelihood of balkanization resulting from identity politics, but the split that results from a wholesale critique of identity that then perceives minority agendas as a threat to progressive politics. It is this mistaken idea that is endangering the future of progressive alliances.Less
This chapter examines the idea that social identity itself is an a priori problem; that identities, under any description, pose dangers and commits one to mistaken assumptions when they are believed to be real and/or acted upon politically. It discusses identity politics and the theories of Arthur Schlesinger. Schlesinger's arguments demonstrate that the critique of identity politics often manifests ambivalence about the relevance of identity to politics. He does not really want to eradicate all identities, but to keep non-European identities from dominating American identity. Given this, one might think that what we need is simply a more consistent opposition to identities, pursued with equality across both the dominant and the subaltern. However, it is argued that such a plan is neither wholly possible nor necessary for social justice. The real danger is not the likelihood of balkanization resulting from identity politics, but the split that results from a wholesale critique of identity that then perceives minority agendas as a threat to progressive politics. It is this mistaken idea that is endangering the future of progressive alliances.
Linda Martín Alcoff
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195137347
- eISBN:
- 9780199785773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137345.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter discusses the philosophical critique of identity. In order to understand the current aversion to cultural identity, one needs to retrace the development of the philosophical treatment of ...
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This chapter discusses the philosophical critique of identity. In order to understand the current aversion to cultural identity, one needs to retrace the development of the philosophical treatment of the self in modern, Western philosophy. Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self (1989) is the best recent attempt to do this, and the chapter begins with an overview of some of the main ideas in his philosophical history that relate to the question of identity. Based on readings of Hegel, Sartre, and other key figures, a genealogy of the philosophical critique of identity is developed, which shows that its more fundamental basis is not actually in the Western concept of rationality but in the modern Western treatments of the Other developed in the context of the European colonialism. Finally, it is shown how this legacy lives on today in some aspects of postmodern philosophy.Less
This chapter discusses the philosophical critique of identity. In order to understand the current aversion to cultural identity, one needs to retrace the development of the philosophical treatment of the self in modern, Western philosophy. Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self (1989) is the best recent attempt to do this, and the chapter begins with an overview of some of the main ideas in his philosophical history that relate to the question of identity. Based on readings of Hegel, Sartre, and other key figures, a genealogy of the philosophical critique of identity is developed, which shows that its more fundamental basis is not actually in the Western concept of rationality but in the modern Western treatments of the Other developed in the context of the European colonialism. Finally, it is shown how this legacy lives on today in some aspects of postmodern philosophy.
M. Gail Hamner
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195161199
- eISBN:
- 9780199835201
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019516119X.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The author contends that the feminist politics of Donna Haraway, Kaja Silverman, and Luce Irigaray–despite theirdistance from Christian discourse–deploy love as a Christian-inflected option for the ...
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The author contends that the feminist politics of Donna Haraway, Kaja Silverman, and Luce Irigaray–despite theirdistance from Christian discourse–deploy love as a Christian-inflected option for the marginalized, as the basis for their attempt to stand with and advocate for those without power or voice. Although ultimately each project fails to accomplish what it attempts, what is noteworthy is the desire to deploy (Christian) love toward political ends. By recognizing the need for coalition politics and nonessentializing conceptions of subjectivity, the political appeal to love allows an escape from both the futility of identity politics and the cynicism of postmodernism.Less
The author contends that the feminist politics of Donna Haraway, Kaja Silverman, and Luce Irigaray–despite theirdistance from Christian discourse–deploy love as a Christian-inflected option for the marginalized, as the basis for their attempt to stand with and advocate for those without power or voice. Although ultimately each project fails to accomplish what it attempts, what is noteworthy is the desire to deploy (Christian) love toward political ends. By recognizing the need for coalition politics and nonessentializing conceptions of subjectivity, the political appeal to love allows an escape from both the futility of identity politics and the cynicism of postmodernism.
Peter Hopkins and Richard Gale
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625871
- eISBN:
- 9780748671335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625871.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter addresses the questions about the formation of identities, contemporary experiences of Islamophobia and emancipatory politics in the lives of Muslims in Britain. It specifically presents ...
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This chapter addresses the questions about the formation of identities, contemporary experiences of Islamophobia and emancipatory politics in the lives of Muslims in Britain. It specifically presents an overview of current discussions among British Muslims about Islamophobia and its relationship to their complex identities to shed further light upon this debate around ‘identity politics’. Islamophobia provokes the constitution of assertive Muslim identities in the hegemonic public sphere. Britishness is only partly constitutive of modern Muslim identities. There was a sharp bifurcation of British Muslims into loyal moderates and disloyal radicals after 9/11, but it could not be sustained to the same degree after the emergence of a large, third space for democratic dissent that British Muslims helped to shape in the run up to the Iraq war. It is noted that Islamopobia merely creates anti-Islamophobia, and that it cannot permanently define the British Muslim experience.Less
This chapter addresses the questions about the formation of identities, contemporary experiences of Islamophobia and emancipatory politics in the lives of Muslims in Britain. It specifically presents an overview of current discussions among British Muslims about Islamophobia and its relationship to their complex identities to shed further light upon this debate around ‘identity politics’. Islamophobia provokes the constitution of assertive Muslim identities in the hegemonic public sphere. Britishness is only partly constitutive of modern Muslim identities. There was a sharp bifurcation of British Muslims into loyal moderates and disloyal radicals after 9/11, but it could not be sustained to the same degree after the emergence of a large, third space for democratic dissent that British Muslims helped to shape in the run up to the Iraq war. It is noted that Islamopobia merely creates anti-Islamophobia, and that it cannot permanently define the British Muslim experience.
Pamela Johnston Conover
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195335453
- eISBN:
- 9780199893904
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335453.003.0008
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Political theory has been engaged in an ongoing debate about the role of recognition in liberal democracies. Recognition demands, among other things, respect for all social groups and their ...
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Political theory has been engaged in an ongoing debate about the role of recognition in liberal democracies. Recognition demands, among other things, respect for all social groups and their fundamental way of life. A failure to fulfill this demand can lead to discrimination and prejudice, and ultimately impedes effective democratic citizenship. This chapter argues that these claims are ultimately psychological in nature, and that psychological science provides evidence to support a politics of recognition. Specifically, psychological research suggests that misrecognition impedes democratic citizenship, and that meeting the demands of recognition can actually enhance the dynamics of democratic deliberation.Less
Political theory has been engaged in an ongoing debate about the role of recognition in liberal democracies. Recognition demands, among other things, respect for all social groups and their fundamental way of life. A failure to fulfill this demand can lead to discrimination and prejudice, and ultimately impedes effective democratic citizenship. This chapter argues that these claims are ultimately psychological in nature, and that psychological science provides evidence to support a politics of recognition. Specifically, psychological research suggests that misrecognition impedes democratic citizenship, and that meeting the demands of recognition can actually enhance the dynamics of democratic deliberation.
Phillip L. Hammack
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195394467
- eISBN:
- 9780199863488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394467.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to explore the central question of the relationship between master narratives—interpretations of historical events and collective ...
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This chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to explore the central question of the relationship between master narratives—interpretations of historical events and collective experience—and the personal narrative of an individual. It then identifies the research questions that guided the work with Israeli and Palestinian youth and presents an overarching framework for the study of lives in conflict. Central to the framework are concepts of culture—not as static and reified but as dynamic and practice oriented—and of identity.Less
This chapter first sets out the purpose of the book, which is to explore the central question of the relationship between master narratives—interpretations of historical events and collective experience—and the personal narrative of an individual. It then identifies the research questions that guided the work with Israeli and Palestinian youth and presents an overarching framework for the study of lives in conflict. Central to the framework are concepts of culture—not as static and reified but as dynamic and practice oriented—and of identity.
Allison Weir
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199936861
- eISBN:
- 9780199333073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199936861.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy, General
How can we think about identities in the wake of feminist critiques of identity and identity politics? In Identities and Freedom, Allison Weir rethinks conceptions of identity – both individual ...
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How can we think about identities in the wake of feminist critiques of identity and identity politics? In Identities and Freedom, Allison Weir rethinks conceptions of identity – both individual identity and the collective identity of “women” – in relation to freedom. Drawing on Taylor and Foucault, Butler, Zerilli, Mahmood, Mohanty, Young, and others, Weir develops a complex and nuanced account of identities that takes seriously the ways in which identity categories are bound up with power relations, with processes of subjection and exclusion, yet argues that identities are also sources of important values, and of freedom, for they are shaped and sustained by relations of interdependence and solidarity. Moving out of the paradox of identity and freedom requires understanding identities as effects of multiple contesting relations of power and relations of interdependence. Weir argues that our identities are best understood as our connections: to each other, to ourselves, and to ideals. And she argues that our freedom is found in these connections. If the question of identity is “to whom and to what am I importantly connected?” the question of freedom is about the nature of those connections: how do the relationships that hold us together constitute not just shackles but sources of freedom? Identities are sources of freedom if they are understood not as static categories but as practices: hence Weir leads us from a notion of identity as a fixed epistemological category to identity as an ongoing, dynamically unfolding practical-political process of identification. And she envisions a politics of transformative identifications: practices that risk the difficult work of connection through conflict, openness and change. Her account of transformative identity politics as a politics of identification thus moves beyond mere strategic essentialism to articulate a more coherent basis for feminist politics.Less
How can we think about identities in the wake of feminist critiques of identity and identity politics? In Identities and Freedom, Allison Weir rethinks conceptions of identity – both individual identity and the collective identity of “women” – in relation to freedom. Drawing on Taylor and Foucault, Butler, Zerilli, Mahmood, Mohanty, Young, and others, Weir develops a complex and nuanced account of identities that takes seriously the ways in which identity categories are bound up with power relations, with processes of subjection and exclusion, yet argues that identities are also sources of important values, and of freedom, for they are shaped and sustained by relations of interdependence and solidarity. Moving out of the paradox of identity and freedom requires understanding identities as effects of multiple contesting relations of power and relations of interdependence. Weir argues that our identities are best understood as our connections: to each other, to ourselves, and to ideals. And she argues that our freedom is found in these connections. If the question of identity is “to whom and to what am I importantly connected?” the question of freedom is about the nature of those connections: how do the relationships that hold us together constitute not just shackles but sources of freedom? Identities are sources of freedom if they are understood not as static categories but as practices: hence Weir leads us from a notion of identity as a fixed epistemological category to identity as an ongoing, dynamically unfolding practical-political process of identification. And she envisions a politics of transformative identifications: practices that risk the difficult work of connection through conflict, openness and change. Her account of transformative identity politics as a politics of identification thus moves beyond mere strategic essentialism to articulate a more coherent basis for feminist politics.
Janis Sanchez-Hucles, Alex E. Dryden, and Barbara Winstead
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199732074
- eISBN:
- 9780199933457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732074.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Only recently have the writings of women of color (WOC) significantly influenced the field of feminism. These WOC bring unique identities, concerns, and cultures to the feminist movement. In this ...
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Only recently have the writings of women of color (WOC) significantly influenced the field of feminism. These WOC bring unique identities, concerns, and cultures to the feminist movement. In this article, three waves of feminism are explored in order to understand the roles and perspectives of WOC, the feminisms that they developed, and how their ideas are similar to and different from traditional theories. The effects of privilege, power, race, sexual orientation, and disability are reviewed in understanding how they helped construct ideas on feminism for women who are Asian, Black, Indian, or Latina. The chapter concludes with an exploration of how various dynamics have led to the current state of an intersection of multiple identities and oppressions.Less
Only recently have the writings of women of color (WOC) significantly influenced the field of feminism. These WOC bring unique identities, concerns, and cultures to the feminist movement. In this article, three waves of feminism are explored in order to understand the roles and perspectives of WOC, the feminisms that they developed, and how their ideas are similar to and different from traditional theories. The effects of privilege, power, race, sexual orientation, and disability are reviewed in understanding how they helped construct ideas on feminism for women who are Asian, Black, Indian, or Latina. The chapter concludes with an exploration of how various dynamics have led to the current state of an intersection of multiple identities and oppressions.
Ramin Jahanbegloo and Bhikhu Parekh
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198071549
- eISBN:
- 9780199081349
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198071549.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
One of the most distinguished political philosophers of our time, British-Indian academic and peer Lord Bhikhu Parekh’s work continues to deeply influence our understanding of identity, politics, and ...
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One of the most distinguished political philosophers of our time, British-Indian academic and peer Lord Bhikhu Parekh’s work continues to deeply influence our understanding of identity, politics, and multiculturalism. Based on a series of interviews of Bhikhu Parekh by Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, Talking Politics is a journey into the life and work of the acclaimed political thinker. From cultural diversity and global ethics to universal moral rights and duties, liberalism, multiculturalism, Marxism, Islam and Europe, and Mahatma Gandhi in the twenty-first century—Parekh addresses issues which India and nations across the world are grappling with in a changed and changing global order. Moving from the public to the personal domain, this engaging conversation affords rare glimpses of Parekh’s world: from early-life struggle and sacrifice to the joys of success, and finally his entry into the House of Lords.Less
One of the most distinguished political philosophers of our time, British-Indian academic and peer Lord Bhikhu Parekh’s work continues to deeply influence our understanding of identity, politics, and multiculturalism. Based on a series of interviews of Bhikhu Parekh by Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, Talking Politics is a journey into the life and work of the acclaimed political thinker. From cultural diversity and global ethics to universal moral rights and duties, liberalism, multiculturalism, Marxism, Islam and Europe, and Mahatma Gandhi in the twenty-first century—Parekh addresses issues which India and nations across the world are grappling with in a changed and changing global order. Moving from the public to the personal domain, this engaging conversation affords rare glimpses of Parekh’s world: from early-life struggle and sacrifice to the joys of success, and finally his entry into the House of Lords.
Tove H. Malloy
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199274437
- eISBN:
- 9780191699757
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274437.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
Separatism is a highly topical and controversial legal and political issue. This book reviews the European inter-governmental approach in international law and politics through analysis of issues ...
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Separatism is a highly topical and controversial legal and political issue. This book reviews the European inter-governmental approach in international law and politics through analysis of issues related to the moral recognition and ethical acceptance of national minorities. Examining issues of sub-state nationalisms, group recognition, identity, and political participation, it reveals assumptions in international law and politics about state sovereignty, collective rights, loyalty, and political inclusion. Employing both theoretical analysis and practical examples, the book provides a new framework for the accommodation of national minorities in Europe that aims to address the problems which have emerged from both international law and European relations since 1989. Part I examines the emerging national minority rights scheme since 1989, and explores concepts of the nature and scope of national minority rights. The book suggests that these rights have perhaps been mis-categorised and under-explored. Part II examines the discourse in the light of contemporary political theory on nationalism and multiculturalism, and the politics of identity, difference, and recognition, as well as discursive approaches to democracy. Based upon these analyses, the book develops an alternative framework for national minority accommodation based upon multiple loyalties, critical citizenship, and discursive justice. This alternative model overcomes the dichotomies of individualism-collectivism and universalism-particularism, contending that minority rights should be seen as collective political autonomy rights rather than as individual cultural human rights. Using this model, Part III examines the assumptions underlying the politics of democratisation, taking as examples the work of the Council of Europe and the politics of European Union integration. The book questions the ability of the national minority rights discourse to inform international law in its efforts to protect national minorities in an ethical manner. Instead, it contends that the complex processes of constitutionalism in the realm of European integration might provide a better way to accommodate national minorities.Less
Separatism is a highly topical and controversial legal and political issue. This book reviews the European inter-governmental approach in international law and politics through analysis of issues related to the moral recognition and ethical acceptance of national minorities. Examining issues of sub-state nationalisms, group recognition, identity, and political participation, it reveals assumptions in international law and politics about state sovereignty, collective rights, loyalty, and political inclusion. Employing both theoretical analysis and practical examples, the book provides a new framework for the accommodation of national minorities in Europe that aims to address the problems which have emerged from both international law and European relations since 1989. Part I examines the emerging national minority rights scheme since 1989, and explores concepts of the nature and scope of national minority rights. The book suggests that these rights have perhaps been mis-categorised and under-explored. Part II examines the discourse in the light of contemporary political theory on nationalism and multiculturalism, and the politics of identity, difference, and recognition, as well as discursive approaches to democracy. Based upon these analyses, the book develops an alternative framework for national minority accommodation based upon multiple loyalties, critical citizenship, and discursive justice. This alternative model overcomes the dichotomies of individualism-collectivism and universalism-particularism, contending that minority rights should be seen as collective political autonomy rights rather than as individual cultural human rights. Using this model, Part III examines the assumptions underlying the politics of democratisation, taking as examples the work of the Council of Europe and the politics of European Union integration. The book questions the ability of the national minority rights discourse to inform international law in its efforts to protect national minorities in an ethical manner. Instead, it contends that the complex processes of constitutionalism in the realm of European integration might provide a better way to accommodate national minorities.
Todd May
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748639823
- eISBN:
- 9780748671724
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748639823.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This book shows how democratic progressive politics can happen and how it is happening in very different arenas. The author takes an intensive look at a range of contemporary political movements and ...
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This book shows how democratic progressive politics can happen and how it is happening in very different arenas. The author takes an intensive look at a range of contemporary political movements and shows how, to one degree or another, they exemplify the political thought of Jacques Rancière. Following an overview of Rancière's thought, the author considers the following groups: the Algerian refugee movement in Montreal for citizenship, the first Palestinian intifada, the politics of equality and identity politics in relation to the Zapatista movement, a local food co-op in South Carolina and an anarchist press in Oakland. Essentially, the book shows how political theory and practice can enlighten one another, and in an age of cynicism, fear and despair, the author suggests that there is hope for the possibility of progressive democratic action.Less
This book shows how democratic progressive politics can happen and how it is happening in very different arenas. The author takes an intensive look at a range of contemporary political movements and shows how, to one degree or another, they exemplify the political thought of Jacques Rancière. Following an overview of Rancière's thought, the author considers the following groups: the Algerian refugee movement in Montreal for citizenship, the first Palestinian intifada, the politics of equality and identity politics in relation to the Zapatista movement, a local food co-op in South Carolina and an anarchist press in Oakland. Essentially, the book shows how political theory and practice can enlighten one another, and in an age of cynicism, fear and despair, the author suggests that there is hope for the possibility of progressive democratic action.
