Identity Politics

Politics

Intersectionality in India: Caste-Based Identity Politics

A system of hereditary and hierarchical caste-based stratification still governs political, social and economic life in India, over seventy years after Independence. According to a 2018 study, the Dalits, the…

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5 min

Politics

We Can’t Just Oppose Racism: We Must Transcend Race

What does it mean for a racially designated person to no longer accept that designation? I didn’t fully realise the significance of being coded as black until I was thirteen.…

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11 min

Politics

It’s Not Socialism, It’s Clientelism

Socialism has enjoyed something of a renaissance in the US over the past few years, with the rise of populist politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who proudly embrace…

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6 min

Politics

Is There A New Third Way?

When Senator Bernie Sanders recently dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, many wondered how, despite his initial surge in the polls, he was defeated by Joe Biden, a gaffe-prone…

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12 min

Politics

The Left is Having an Identity Crisis

The Left is in crisis. We no longer present a cohesive movement, and we no longer form coherent political parties. We are a fractured and ill-defined mess, our goals are…

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10 min

Politics

Francis Fukuyama’s “Identity”: A Book Review

Francis Fukuyama is one of those authors who are often invoked and far less frequently read. This has to do, at least in part, with the controversy surrounding his first…

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10 min

Politics

Wollstonecraft’s Dilemma: Identity Politics and Feminism

Although the ideology of identity politics remains hegemonic in the academy and in many social institutions, a growing—and arguably necessary—body of critique has been emerging. These critiques have emanated both…

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8 min

Irshad Manji’s “Don’t Label Me”: Book Review

It’s hard to know how to respond to the culture wars, which are raging all around us. Of course, we all know how we should respond: by practicing mutual respect,…

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8 min

Politics

The Politics of Slavoj Zizek

Slavoj Žižek recently debated Jordan Peterson, in a conflict that was somewhat dramatically hailed as the intellectual duel of the century. One of the most amusing moments came when Peterson…

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7 min

Culture & Media

Literature, Authenticity and Race

As Cathy Young observes in a recent essay, the media has not given J. D. Salinger a warm welcome into his centennial year. Two days before the celebrated author’s birthday, the Washington…

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7 min

Politics

Rahaf Mohammad and the Need for Universal Human Rights

Rahaf Mohammed’s epic escape and rescue have once again demonstrated the pressing need for humanity to join together to protect human rights irrespective of caste, color or creed. The incident…

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9 min

Psychology

Identity: Knowing What It’s Like To Be Something

Like most people who hang around on social media, now and again I come across an exchange which goes like this: “I think such-and-such,” “How dare you think such-and-such? You’re not…

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12 min

A Persian Popinjay. A Review of the Film Bohemian Rhapsody

Warning: contains spoilers. The Demands of the Narrative The film opens with a close-up of star Rami Malek’s eye, a circlet of pale blue-grey iris clearly visible around a wide…

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12 min

Politics

The Case For Identity Politics

Identity politics has become the punching bag of liberals and conservatives alike, despite being rather ill defined. It is neither the world-ending menace that conservatives posit, nor the monolith that…

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14 min