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As much as I wish you weren't, I think you're actually behind the curve on this. Barely anyone defines left-wing politics this way any more; it's all about idpo

As much as I wish you weren't, I think you're actually behind the curve on this. Barely anyone defines left-wing politics this way any more; it's all about idpol and capitalist realism now.

kristopolous 7y ago
The only important distinction is in self-identification. Who calls themselves a leftist, not who is called one. For instance, look at the program for the left forum 2019: https://www.leftforum.org/program-2019 https://www.leftforum.org/program-2019 or the offerings of say Verso books: https://www.versobooks.com https://www.versobooks.com or the self proclaimed left-wing news sites like in these times: https://inthesetimes.com https://inthesetimes.com or jacobin: https://jacobinmag.com https://jacobinmag.com ... there's effectively zero identity politics. Instead, they critique and criticize it. For instance, here is a book review from verso > "...argues that identity politics is not synonymous with anti-racism, but instead amounts to the neutralization of its movements. It marks a retreat from the crucial passage of identity to solidarity, and from individual recognition to the collective struggle against an oppressive social structures" https://www.versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-*%20identity https://www.versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-*%20identity People who see identity politics in action on news sites indeed call it leftism, along with fascism, liberalism, racism, and socialism. These people are just flinging words around however, they don't draw a distinction between any of those things. They're using those words as a form of profanity, purely emotive.
- kristopolous 7y ago
  and here's another example of how leftists do not like identpol, also from verso: > identity politics is positioned in a variety of Marxist frameworks as ineffectual; as a politics founded on difference, it is inherently incapable of building the broad-based movement needed to destabilise capitalism. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3853-marxism-and-identity-politics https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3853-marxism-and-identity-p... Or Jacobin, the leftist magazine, smearing it as a form of liberalism (which leftists, once again, do not like): > But the term “neoliberal identity politics” refers to the way the politics of identity can be — and often are — abused by those in power, to undermine the very politics of collectivity upon which the liberation of all oppressed groups depends. https://jacobinmag.com/2019/06/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-neoliberal https://jacobinmag.com/2019/06/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sande... or the leftist InTheseTimes, clearly criticizing the (liberal) Democratic party: > Far too many black folks will vote for their worst enemy, if he or she looks like them. That’s why identity politics, which masquerades as a black power strategy, winds up disempowering African Americans every election. http://inthesetimes.com/article/19762/identity-politics-takes-a-hit http://inthesetimes.com/article/19762/identity-politics-take... It doesn't matter whether one agrees with these positions, what's important is to correctly identify who is making them if one values trying to accurately depict reality. These 4 citations from popular self-identified leftist sources think identpol is a bad idea. There's dozens more.

As much as I wish you weren't, I think you're actually behind the curve on this. Barely anyone defines left-wing politics this way any more; it's all about idpol and capitalist realism now.

kristopolous 7y ago

The only important distinction is in self-identification. Who calls themselves a leftist, not who is called one. For instance, look at the program for the left forum 2019: https://www.leftforum.org/program-2019 https://www.leftforum.org/program-2019 or the offerings of say Verso books: https://www.versobooks.com https://www.versobooks.com or the self proclaimed left-wing news sites like in these times: https://inthesetimes.com https://inthesetimes.com or jacobin: https://jacobinmag.com https://jacobinmag.com ... there's effectively zero identity politics. Instead, they critique and criticize it. For instance, here is a book review from verso > "...argues that identity politics is not synonymous with anti-racism, but instead amounts to the neutralization of its movements. It marks a retreat from the crucial passage of identity to solidarity, and from individual recognition to the collective struggle against an oppressive social structures" https://www.versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-*%20identity https://www.versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-*%20identity People who see identity politics in action on news sites indeed call it leftism, along with fascism, liberalism, racism, and socialism. These people are just flinging words around however, they don't draw a distinction between any of those things. They're using those words as a form of profanity, purely emotive.

kristopolous 7y ago
and here's another example of how leftists do not like identpol, also from verso: > identity politics is positioned in a variety of Marxist frameworks as ineffectual; as a politics founded on difference, it is inherently incapable of building the broad-based movement needed to destabilise capitalism. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3853-marxism-and-identity-politics https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3853-marxism-and-identity-p... Or Jacobin, the leftist magazine, smearing it as a form of liberalism (which leftists, once again, do not like): > But the term “neoliberal identity politics” refers to the way the politics of identity can be — and often are — abused by those in power, to undermine the very politics of collectivity upon which the liberation of all oppressed groups depends. https://jacobinmag.com/2019/06/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-neoliberal https://jacobinmag.com/2019/06/elizabeth-warren-bernie-sande... or the leftist InTheseTimes, clearly criticizing the (liberal) Democratic party: > Far too many black folks will vote for their worst enemy, if he or she looks like them. That’s why identity politics, which masquerades as a black power strategy, winds up disempowering African Americans every election. http://inthesetimes.com/article/19762/identity-politics-takes-a-hit http://inthesetimes.com/article/19762/identity-politics-take... It doesn't matter whether one agrees with these positions, what's important is to correctly identify who is making them if one values trying to accurately depict reality. These 4 citations from popular self-identified leftist sources think identpol is a bad idea. There's dozens more.