Some critics on the left have seen a contradiction between this focus
on identity and the left’s traditional politics of income redistribu-
tion, creating something like a “progressive’s dilemma,” whereby the
pursuit of recognition would undermine the resolve and solidarity
necessary to achieve greater equality. The empirical evidence, how-
ever, does not support this view. The adoption of multiculturalism
policies does not lower public support for redistribution and does not
affect a country’s commitment to encompassing social programs.^15
Many factors may explain this. First, the claims of identity groups
remain fundamentally compatible with the traditional demands of
the left, because in the end they concern equality. To underline the
intrinsic link between the quest for symbolic recognition of new social
movements and their expectations about material rewards and redis-
tribution, Matt James names the Canadian identity groups he studies
“misrecognized materialists.” Groups representing “visible” minorities,
for instance, seek recognition precisely to combat racism, insecurity,
and economic discrimination.^16 Second, no matter how important
they are in public debates, multiculturalism policies remain marginal
compared to the huge and slow-moving programs that constitute the
welfare state, such as old age, health, or unemployment insurances.
Third, given their nature, multiculturalism policies are more likely
to be adopted and deployed in countries where the left is already
strong, and thus able and committed to maintain generous welfare
programs.
The case of indigenous peoples shows very well how identity and
progressive politics can mesh. There are more than 370 million indi-
genous people in the world, spread over seventy countries, where they
usually “occupy an encapsulated status as disempowered and dis-
persed subjects of a larger entity.”^17 In the last decades, an indigenous
international has emerged and has succeeded in having most states
reject outright assimilation and accept elements of self-determination.
(^15) Banting and Kymlicka, “Introduction,” pp. 32–33.
(^16) Matt James,Misrecognized Materialists: Social Movements in Canadian
17 Constitutional Politics, Vancouver, UBC Press, 2006, pp. 79–80.
Augie Fleras and Roger Maaka, quoted in Alan C. Cairns, “Citizenship and
Indian Peoples: The Ambiguous Legacy of Internal Colonialism,” in Engin
F. Isin and Bryan S. Turner (eds.),Handbook of Citizenship Studies, London,
Sage, 2002, p. 209; the data are from: United Nations Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues, “About UNPFII/History,” New York, UNPFII, 2006
(http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/history.html).
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