Identity politics endangers democracy - this is the core message, repeated in ever new variations, of debates about the style of politics that opposes discrimination but allegedly ends up in the impasse of tribal thinking. Against this critical chorus, Karsten Schubert now presents the first fundamental defense of identity politics in book form. With calm objectivity and without any polemics, he deals with the most important objections and develops a new perspective on the political struggle over identities. His central insight is clear: identity politics is indispensable for the ongoing improvement of our democracy.

Why do we need to praise identity politics? Because it exposes real discrimination and makes it possible to articulate related demands. It provides the democratic process with knowledge of its deficits that would otherwise remain hidden. Does this threaten our freedom? Does it reduce people to a rigit identity? Will universalist values be destroyed? No, argues Schubert. The real purpose of identity politics is to concretize and better realize the universalist promise of democracy - equality and freedom for all. Of course, this does not mean that everything that comes across as identity politics is also good for democracy. Rather, Schubert’s aim is to lead the debate out of the epistemologically impoverished culture war and take it to a new level based on democratic theory.

In bookstores from September 19, 2024

https://www.chbeck.de/schubert-lob-identitaetspolitik/product/37004679


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