Identity And Politics

Identity politics: either you love it or you hate it (or at least, that’s what the media would have us believe). In reality, things are more complicated. Identities are at the heart of politics; so much of how we make sense of the world around us, and the social movements we operate within, is shaped by the ways we understand identities, communities, and the structures in which they operate. In this course we’ll take a look at identity and politics from many angles. Through a series of conversations, we’ll cover: the intellectual history of identity politics; public debates about political correctness; questions of how institutions like government and universities respond to identity categories through policy; how intersectionality and feminism dialogue with identities; marginalised cultures and memes on social media; and how we might better speak about identity and politics