Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examines the impact of identity politics on the dynamics and organization of political systems. Topics include the impact of ethnic, racial and/or religious diversity on modes of political representation, the formation of public policy, and the quest for political stability and national identity. Student with credit for POL 481 may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

In 1977, a black lesbian feminist organization called The Combahee River Collective introduced into political discourse the concept of identity politics, asserting that “…the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity.” The group’s overall aim was to challenge racism and sexism in the fight for a more inclusive and diverse form of socialist politics. Today, identity politics can be found across the political spectrum in a multiplicity of forms. Even mainstream politicians like Hillary Clinton speak the language of ‘privilege’ and ‘intersectionality.’ What happened? Where did identity politics come from and how has it transformed over time as a practice? How do identity based movements emerge, what are their strategic goals, and how do they affect political institutions and public policy? Drawing on the fields of Comparative Social Movements and Critical Political Theory, this course explores the various ways in which social movements and struggles grounded in identity operate in contemporary liberal democracies. The course consists of two parts. In the first part, we will explore the meaning of identity and how identities are formed and given political content. In the second part, we will engage more directly with the ways in which identity politics continues to unfold in contemporary societies. Our analysis will focus on case studies concerning specific identity categories such as race, gender, class, and nation. Special attention will be placed on how these categories interconnect.

There will be one 3-hour seminar and one one-tutorial each week.  Tutorials start in Week Two.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: