Section started in August 2019. It is specifically dedicated to the authoritarian identitarianism that is related to Group Identity Theory (now also called Critical Social Justice), not on the older emancipatory movements such as the women's movement, the gay rights movements, civil rights for minority populations, etc ..., which operated under a egalitarian ethos within the bounds of universalism.

Context

The darker sides of group identity theory and practice

Selected from Diane Musho Hamilton:

"As we move towards greater inclusivity we’re also seeing some unintended consequences, such as:

• Oppressive rules around speech and “political correctness”. There can seem to be a hypersensitivity to language and behavior that can create a culture of fear.

• Endless processes of blame and accusation that don’t seem to ever resolve.

• A victim-oppressor framework that doesn’t allow any other narratives to come forth.

• The inversion of power hierarchies instead of their transformation (with a new group of oppressors at the top instead of no oppressors there).

• A monoculture that only values a narrow range of attitudes, politics, personality types, and communication styles.

• The demonization of those with differing views."

(https://tendirections.com/inclusion-2-0/?f)

Quotes

Short Quotations

"If you can't control your own emotions, you have to control the behavior of others"

- Robert Skinner cited by John Cleese

Long Quotations

Mark Fisher: There are no identities, our struggle is with capital

"“So what can we do now? First of all, it is imperative to reject identitarianism, and to recognise that there are no identities, only desires, interests and identifications...The bourgeois-identitarian left knows how to propagate guilt and conduct a witch hunt, but it doesn’t know how to make converts. But that, after all, is not the point. The aim is not to popularise a leftist position, or to win people over to it, but to remain in a position of elite superiority, but now with class superiority redoubled by moral superiority too. ‘How dare you talk – it’s we who speak for those who suffer!’ ...

The rejection of identitarianism can only be achieved by the re-assertion of class. A left that does not have class at its core can only be a liberal pressure group. Class consciousness is always double: it involves a simultaneous knowledge of the way in which class frames and shapes all experience, and a knowledge of the particular position that we occupy in the class structure. It must be remembered that the aim of our struggle is not recognition by the bourgeoisie, nor even the destruction of the bourgeoisie itself. It is the class structure – a structure that wounds everyone, even those who materially profit from it – that must be destroyed. The interests of the working class are the interests of all; the interests of the bourgeoisie are the interests of capital, which are the interests of no-one. Our struggle must be towards the construction of a new and surprising world, not the preservation of identities shaped and distorted by capital. ...

"We need to learn, or re-learn, how to build comradeship and solidarity instead of doing capital’s work for it by condemning and abusing each other. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we must always agree – on the contrary, we must create conditions where disagreement can take place without fear of exclusion and excommunication.""

- Mark Fisher [1]

Helen Pluckrose on Ideological Possession

"Throughout history, groups of humans have become filled with a self-righteous, burning fervor to uphold a moral order and rid society of corrupting influences. In so becoming, they have often also become possessed of a kind of collective ideologically-inspired madness and thereby inflicted great cruelty on their fellow men and women. This is a part of humanity that must be acknowledged and mitigated. Modern, secular, liberal democracy, which is rooted in reason, evidence, freedom of speech and tolerance, has done rather well at channelling these impulses into more productive courses."

- Helen Pluckrose, James A. Lindsay and Mike Nayna [2]

Dyab Abou Jahah on choosing for solidarity

“It is time to "shut up and listen" you would hear them say. At other times they will ask you to "use your privilege" and "speak up".

If you say something they don't approve of, they will tell you to "educate yourself", or even propose to educate you. "Stop being toxic", "stop being fragile", stop these crocodile tears of "innocence". Sounds familiar?

If you are white and you have another approach to the fight against racism than what a "person of colour" is saying, you will very likely hear this. If you are a man and you try to make a point on gender equality you are very likely to hear it too. If you are heterosexual and you have a point to make in the fight against homophobia that does not please a gay activist, some version of this narrative may come your way. The problem we are facing today is that the debate on equality is transformed into a debate on identity. An identity that is not seen anymore as an expression of cultural realities, linguistic diversity or religious doctrine.

Identity from a minority perspective is nowadays focalised around two central characteristics: colour and gender.

Do not get me wrong, I am aware of the importance of colour and gender in the debate on equality. And I am not going to reproduce the classical leftist analysis claiming that inequality results from class differences and nothing else. That analysis is reductionist. It is also often used to keep oppression forms based upon racism and sexism in place.

Nevertheless, we are facing a big problem with the rising minority identity politics paradigm, and the intellectual intimidation tactics its adherents are using in the debate. This is risking to jeopardise the struggle for equality altogether.’

- Dyab Abou Jajah [3]

Key Resources

• New Discourses: project for political dialogue by James Lindsay, Helen Pluckrose and Peter Boghossian

• Social Justice Reformation: very informative resource

Key Articles

• A very good introduction of the issues raised, by Micha Narberhaus: Critiquing the Dogmatic Versions of Group Identity Theory

• A must-read and one of the first progressive call to arms: Mark Fisher's Vampires’ Castle

• Social Justice Ideology Does Not Foster Egalitarianism. By Michael Rectenwald [4]

• Reflections on Intersectionality

• An Open Letter of the Non-Identitarian Left to the Misunderstanding Right

• The Myth of Class Reductionism. By Adolph Reed: "Centrist Democrats and left-identitarians are bound in shared embrace of a particularist, elite-driven politics .. This .. political vision, - at the expense of long-term, movement-driven, majoritarian strategies at all levels of government — threatens to preempt hopes of restoring the public-good model of governance that was at the heart of postwar prosperity and foundational to the civil rights movement." ; see also: The Argument against Race Reductionism ; By Adolph Reed; New Labor Forum 29(2):36-43 ; May 2020

Key Books

• Springtime for Snowflakes: "Social Justice" and Its Postmodern Parentage. By Michael Rectenwald.,New English Review Press, 2018 [5]; see our entry: The Social Justice Movement and Its Postmodern Parentage

• Toward Freedom. The Case Against Race Reductionism. by Touré F. Reed. Verso, : " the road to a more just society for African Americans and everyone else, the fate of poor and working-class African Americans is inextricably linked to that of other poor and working-class Americans."

Key People

Key progressive critics of identity politics:

1. Paul Gilroy
2. A.Sivanandan
3. Anthony Appiah
4. Edward Said
5. Kenan Malik

Key Videos

• Ayishat Akanbi on Replacing the Moral Superiority of Political Correctness with Compassion and Understanding

• Benjamin A. Boyce on What Happened at Evergreen State College

• Mike Nayna on the Grievance Studies Story

• Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay's Critical Introduction to Group Identity Theory

• Brett Weinstein's talk, How the Magic Trick is Done , https://youtu.be/bz0oxIZ3xIg

Documentaries

• Mike Nayna’s 3 Part Evergreen Documentary: https://youtu.be/FH2WeWgcSMk

• Benjamin A Boyce‘s 24 part complete Evergreen (he has made 11 parts so far, out of 24), https://youtu.be/p5Wny9TstEM [http://bit.ly/31mddXS playlist