However, it must also be noted that many people surely find the cultivation and
preservation of their cultural heritage, at home or abroad, a noble cause which
they do not associate with a rightist intolerant stance. On the contrary, to
strengthen the voices of marginalized groups that are mostly drowned out by the
majority thus helping them to be treated fairly is more of a left-wing concern. Is
then identity politics for and by minorities good and identity politics for and by
majorities bad? If only things were that simple!
To its advocates, identity politics is a strategy to overcome repression and
achieve social, political, and economic equality, while its opponents consider it
an aberration that undermines democracy itself. In pluralistic democracies of the
northern hemisphere identity politics plays an increasingly important role,
reflecting a common desire to find shelter from the disruptions of globalization
by belonging to a group of likeminded people with shared interests and
objectives. The democratic process consists not just of the relation between
voters and their elected representatives, but involves an interplay of
constituencies, political parties, lobbies, alliances of convenience, and identity
groups. If recent developments in Western democracies are any indication, the
proclivity of identity politics is increasing.
Whether identity politics is good or bad, whether it is an illicit deviation from
the principle of majority rule or a prerequisite of equality, depends on one’s
views. However, it is uncontroversial that identity politics presents a challenge to
pluralistic democracies that get more pluralistic with continuing migration flows.
Some of the pressing questions facing the development of democratic systems
today thus have to do with identity politics:
How is a democracy to distinguish groups that advance justice and
equality from groups that pursue supremacy and undermine the common
good of freely elected democratic rule?
How is identity politics different from special interest politics—e.g.
environmentalists vs private sector industrialists?
Should identity politics be allowed to exempt members of certain
minorities from observing established and widely accepted rules?
Is identity politics compatible with multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism,
and ecumenism?