21st Century American Politics: Identity Politics

Identity politics is ubiquitous in 21st-century American politics. Even though there are a vast number of identity groups vying for political power, most of these groups, if not all, share or comprise the ideologies of The United State’s two major competing parties: Democrat or Republican. The omnipresence of identity politics in American culture and the subsequent criticisms of identity groups represent the struggle between collectivism and individualism. While individualism is presumably celebrated and nurtured in American culture, membership in identity groups mandates an individual’s beliefs or opinions conform to a group’s ideology, regardless of varying personal experiences. Ultimately, identity groups ironically alienate, subjugate,

Wiarda (2014) advises “there are disputes regarding the origins of the term ‘identity politics’ Black groups, women’s groups, and gay and lesbian groups all claim original authorship” (p. 150). At the heart of identity politics is the notion that there is social and systemic subjugation of people who are not part of the mainstream culture and that by coalescing as one voice oppression can be overcome. Heyes (2016) agrees that “identity politics as a mode of organizing is intimately connected to the idea that some social groups are oppressed” (History and Scope section, para. 1). In addition, identity politics as a general movement “aimed to raise self-awareness of [oppressed] groups and also provide them with the political power” (Wiarda, 2014, p. 150) to affect change at the highest legislative and social level. Since the 1990s, however, the term identity politics now includes “a broader array of interest groups and…now it is one of the most widely used terms in the field” (Wiarda, 2014, p. 150) of political discourse. As the number of interest groups partaking in identity politics grows, so does the exclusivity of being a member of those

Unlike the identity politics of traditional feminism or the civil rights movement in the 1960s, identity groups in the 21st century do not necessarily seek acceptance into the fold of the dominant culture; rather, identity groups demand their differences with the mainstream be advocated by both members and nonmembers alike. Sonia Kruks (2001) concedes:
What makes identity politics a significant departure from earlier, pre-identarian forms of the politics of recognition is its demand for recognition on the basis of the very grounds on which recognition has previously been denied: it is qua women, qua blacks, qua lesbians that groups demand recognition. The demand is not for inclusion within the fold of “universal humankind” on the basis of shared human attributes; nor is it for respect “in spite of” one's differences. (p.