Who Is to Blame For ‘Identity Politics’?
Reflections on the book ‘The Once and Future Liberal’
I read Mark Lilla’s The Once and Future Liberal (2017) shortly after it was published, and since then I have contemplated the argument against so-called “identity politics.” I think the 2017 round of this argument has successfully been put to bed by the election of Joe Biden, but, for the record, here’s what I thought of the book.
The Book Is Against ‘Identity Politics’
Lilla criticizes the invocation of “identity politics,” which is basically marginalized groups pointing out the fact that they exist and demanding equal rights. It’s not because he opposes equal rights but because he doesn’t believe that asking for them directly is the best way to get them.
He says we need a shared vision beyond just “values, commitment, policy proposals.” Liberals need to articulate “principles that everyone can affirm” even when specific groups are the intended beneficiaries. We need language “for invoking the common good or addressing class or other social realities,” not just to distinguish identities.
He offers up a truism that, when discussing any important principle with a political opponent, “there are usually other, equally important principles that might have to be…
