Reflections on Francis Fukuyama’s 'Identity Politics'
“We all have an inner moral self which is valuable to us. The rest of society doesn’t appreciate our inner moral self, therefore, the rest of society must change”
I’ve always been interested in identity as a subject. My life has been defined by being Jewish and female; two identity groups that have been marginalised over time. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what these defining characteristics mean to me, and how they affect my perspective on the world. Considering this alongside the fact that I am experiencing my formative years in the current political climate, which is both extremely liberal yet governed by the right, I can appreciate how much of an affect identity can have on society. As a result, I am always drawn to articles, essay questions, and talks that concern identity and analyse its effect on society.
Today, I attended Francis Fukuyama’s talk on Identity Politics as part of the Bristol Festival of Ideas. In this talk, Fukuyama highlighted what he believes has led to the current dysfunctionality of politics in the Western World - identity issues. Fukuyama began by discussing the populism that appears to control politics today, referring to the victory of ‘anti-democratic forces in the seemingly democratic state’. Populism, however, contradicts democracy. Democracy depends not only on elections but on the maintenance of an institution. Figures like Trump have used buzzwords such as “I alone can fix it”, referring to “the people” he will help, so as to create a sense of momentum which will see him through the elections, yet in doing so they develop a distaste for institution, an institution which he must then hold up.
Fukuyama highlights the two factors that have seemingly led us to our current political situation, and enabled us to reach a point which could not have been envisaged 4 years ago; economics and identity. Firstly, a decline in the economic climate led to unhappiness and a desire for change. We cannot confine the answer to this, however, as if it were due to economics alone, we would have seen the rise of left-wing groups with practical solutions. Rather, it has been the resulting threat to people’s identities which has come with globalisation that has seen a rise to right-wing power; the suggestion of a national identity has appealed to the general public.
After conveying the current political climate and how we managed to get here, Fukuyama delved further into the idea of identity as a significant influencer in today’s society. He revealed that Identity Politics only rose as a topic for discussion in the 1960s with the Civil Rights Movement, Feminism, LGBTQ+, disabled and indigenous peoples’ rights. At this time, these social movements fought for recognition, they demanded dignity. In some instances, these demands began to demonise those who did not fit into these groups; a ‘group logic’ began to form whereby people who were members of these groups thought in the same way, a way in which those who didn’t belong to this group could not be a part of. This had a big effect on the left in politics; rather than focusing on the white middle class where they originated from, the focus on these new groups grew and therefore the attention on the working class began to fade, leading them to the right wing for recognition. Fukuyama claimed that ‘American politics is dysfunctional today as it requires people to sign up for which group to align with, to decide your identity group and stick to it’. With this has come the eradication of a middle ground; there is no longer a place to discuss and process what is going on, only to react. Essentially, identity has replaced economics as the dividing factor in society, we are locked into a dichotomy that can only be resolved by focusing on the need for integrative identities. Rather than focus on our differences, modern democracies need an identity based on ideas, whereby there is an emphasis on common values.
How does this relate to the public role of the humanities? What struck me the most about Fukuyama’s talk was his idea that an identity based on ideas can unite everybody and solve the issues we face in politics today. Whilst it is the politicians that may criticise the humanities, claiming they have no use in wider society, it appears they are the people who need it the most. Politics can’t rely solely on policy making or economics; it needs to appeal to the individual and group identities within the state, and the way in which we interact is through thoughts and ideas; through culture.