Definitions HQ

Identity politics (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠about embracing the terms that injure one because they constitute them socially.

Identity politics (n.) claims ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠categories — 'women,' 'queer,' 'gay,' 'lesbian' — must be claimed precisely because they lay their claim on us before we fully know it.

Identity politics (n.) may ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠need to be turned around: what new politics emerges when a common identity no longer has to come first?

Identity politics (n.) limits ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in advance — identity categories, deemed foundational to feminism, limit in advance the very possibilities feminism was supposed to open.

Identity politics (n.) founders ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in factional disputes over self-definition or demands for ever more personal testimonies of self-disclosure that never satisfy under the descriptivist ideal.

Identity politics (n.) closes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠every list of predicates — color, sexuality, ethnicity, class — with an embarrassed “etc.”: a sign of exhaustion, the supplement that accompanies any effort to fix identity, and a new departure for politics.