The Limits of Identity Politics: Neoliberal Co-optation and the Urgent Call for Class-Based Solidarity
Meeting of the United Packing House Workers of America (CIO), who went out on strike (1946), Bettmann/Getty In the contemporary landscape of global capitalism, identity politics has emerged as a dominant framework for understanding and addressing social injustices. Rooted in the struggles of marginalized communities for recognition and rights, identity politics has undeniably played a crucial role in highlighting the experiences of oppression based on race, gender, sexuality, and other markers of difference. Yet, as a scholar grounded in the culture-centered approach (CCA), I argue that the current iterations of identity politics, particularly under the grip of extreme neoliberalism, serve more to obscure than to liberate. This blog post interrogates these limits, exposing how neoliberalism deploys identity politics as a tool to deflect from working-class politics, perpetuating economic exploitation while offering superficial representations of diversity. Neoliberalism's Strategic...