Deconstructing identity politics

You have to be able to risk your identity for a bigger future than the present you are living.     — Fernando Flores

 

In February 2019, an Egyptian soccer team was scheduled to play a Tanzanian team for an Africa-wide championship. In the lead up to the match, the headlines in our papers declared: We will teach these Arabs a lesson. I wondered: Is Egypt not in Africa? Or, is only a person with a black skin truly African? In the 1970s, it was unthinkable for a Tanzanian newspaper to display such a racialist stand. Today, with the vibrant spirit of Pan Africanism of those days a distant memory, it is quite acceptable.

People everywhere have historically located themselves, socially and psychologically, within distinct social groups. In this era of globalisation, the practice has reached a higher level. Other than race or colour of skin, people are divided in terms of gender, religion, ethnicity, language, community, politics, nation, and even things like profession, sports team and favourite cold drink. The pervasive electronic social media multiplies and entrenches such identities.  

That persons with similar characteristics cluster is not a disconcerting outcome. Due to shared beliefs and practice, a Muslim or a Christian will generally associate with persons of his or her own faith. But when these clusters turn into arenas for hostility and conflict like and when hostile divisions prevail, it becomes a serious issue. All aspects of life are then framed in terms of us (the good ones) versus them (the bad ones). The desire to find common ground and compromise is constricted as people are embroiled in continuous conflicts over the rights, role and social status of their identity groups. When not checked, antagonisms of this sort boil over into violent conflict with deadly outcomes.  

This paper aims to clarify the idea of identity politics, explore the varied justifications behind it, discuss the criticisms voiced against it and promote a socialistic perspective on the matter.

Besides specific biologic features, a human is marked by features like ability to reason, create and talk, name, ancestry, community, language, personality, educational and work trajectories, political affiliation, among many other features, which in their totality distinguish him or her as a unique person. Your personal identity is constituted by this complex totality.  Personal identity has both subjective and objective aspects. It is not just what you actually are but also what you think you are and what others think you are. It has aspects you inherited and aspects that emerged from the social and physical environment in which you grew up and live. It has aspects that are beyond your control and those that are, at least partly, under your control. It has elements of authenticity as well as elements you display to others to create an impression. And it is not a fixed, rigid entity but subject to change over time.

Individuals at the same time have another form of identity. Called collective identity and social in form, it is manifested when people sharing features of their personal identities congregate for a particular purpose. Such identity groups are active, not passive entities with roots in history, social and economic structure and politics. When women organised and began to struggle for equality and the right to vote, they constituted an identity group. And so did people with disabilities when they joined up to demand better access to services and facilities. Many identity groups emerge from long, genuine histories of exclusion, domination and discrimination in society. People from these groups unite to struggle for their rights and removal of social barriers they face. Yet, it is not just the victims of domination but those on the other side, the dominant groups, as well who can and do form identity groups. The latter groups are usually omitted from the current discussions of identity groups. Overall, we note that modern identity groups are a product of the history and the nature of politics and social divisions within the national and global capitalist systems.

Consider the case of Tanzania. Decades of exploitative and unjust colonial rule led the people to unite and organise the struggle for independence. Asserting their national identity, they demanded the actualisation of their right to self-determination. There were complexities in this process as well. British colonialism, which utilised the policy of divide and rule, had generated significant social and economic divisions within the Tanzanian society. These divisions, based on race, ethnicity, region, gender and religion, persisted after colonial rule ended. Much progress was made at the outset, yet the divisions persist to this day.  A particularly egregious case is that of African-Americans in the United States. From the days of slavery to the present times, they have been, and still are, victimised by varied forms of discrimination, overt and institutional, that leave the majority among them at the bottom rung of the social ladder, lagging far behind the white majority in terms of income, jobs, education, health services, political rights, fair treatment under the justice system and quality of residential life.

The writer is  a retired professor of medical statistics and fellow at Tanzania Academy of Sciences

 

 

Deconstructing identity politics

You have to be able to risk your identity for a bigger future than the present you are living. Fernando Flores In February 2019, an Egyptian soccer team was scheduled to play a Tanzanian team for an Africa-wide championship. In the lead up to the match, the headlines in our papers declared: We will teach these Arabs a lesson. I wondered: Is Egypt not in Africa? Or, is only a person with a black skin truly African? In the 1970s, it was unthinkable for a Tanzanian newspaper to display such a racialist stand. Today, with the vibrant spirit of Pan Africanism of those days a distant memory, it is quite acceptable. People everywhere have historically located themselves, socially and psychologically, within distinct social groups. In this era of globalisation, the practice has reached a higher level. Other than race or colour of skin, people are divided in terms of gender, religion, ethnicity, language, community, politics, nation, and even things like profession, sports team and favourite cold drink. The pervasive electronic social media multiplies and entrenches such identities. That persons with similar characteristics cluster is not a disconcerting outcome. Due to shared beliefs and practice, a Muslim or a Christian will generally associate with persons of his or her own faith. But when these clusters turn into arenas for hostility and conflict like and when hostile divisions prevail, it becomes a serious issue. All aspects of life are then framed in terms of us (the good ones) versus them (the bad ones). The desire to find common ground and compromise is constricted as people are embroiled in continuous conflicts over the rights, role and social status of their identity groups. When not checked, antagonisms of this sort boil over into violent conflict with deadly outcomes. This paper aims to clarify the idea of identity politics, explore the varied justifications behind it, discuss the criticisms voiced against it and promote a socialistic perspective on the matter. Besides specific biologic features, a human is marked by features like ability to reason, create and talk, name, ancestry, community, language, personality, educational and work trajectories, political affiliation, among many other features, which in their totality distinguish him or her as a unique person. Your personal identity is constituted by this complex totality. Personal identity has both subjective and objective aspects. It is not just what you actually are but also what you think you are and what others think you are. It has aspects you inherited and aspects that emerged from the social and physical environment in which you grew up and live. It has aspects that are beyond your control and those that are, at least partly, under your control. It has elements of authenticity as well as elements you display to others to create an impression. And it is not a fixed, rigid entity but subject to change over time. Individuals at the same time have another form of identity. Called collective identity and social in form, it is manifested when people sharing features of their personal identities congregate for a particular purpose. Such identity groups are active, not passive entities with roots in history, social and economic structure and politics. When women organised and began to struggle for equality and the right to vote, they constituted an identity group. And so did people with disabilities when they joined up to demand better access to services and facilities. Many identity groups emerge from long, genuine histories of exclusion, domination and discrimination in society. People from these groups unite to struggle for their rights and removal of social barriers they face. Yet, it is not just the victims of domination but those on the other side, the dominant groups, as well who can and do form identity groups. The latter groups are usually omitted from the current discussions of identity groups. Overall, we note that modern identity groups are a product of the history and the nature of politics and social divisions within the national and global capitalist systems. Consider the case of Tanzania. Decades of exploitative and unjust colonial rule led the people to unite and organise the struggle for independence. Asserting their national identity, they demanded the actualisation of their right to self-determination. There were complexities in this process as well. British colonialism, which utilised the policy of divide and rule, had generated significant social and economic divisions within the Tanzanian society. These divisions, based on race, ethnicity, region, gender and religion, persisted after colonial rule ended. Much progress was made at the outset, yet the divisions persist to this day. A particularly egregious case is that of African-Americans in the United States. From the days of slavery to the present times, they have been, and still are, victimised by varied forms of discrimination, overt and institutional, that leave the majority among them at the bottom rung of the social ladder, lagging far behind the white majority in terms of income, jobs, education, health services, political rights, fair treatment under the justice system and quality of residential life. The writer is a retired professor of medical statistics and fellow at Tanzania Academy of Sciences