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What exactly is "identity politics" within a leftist theoretical framework?

Out of all the buzzwords online and in the culture wars, I understand "identity politics" the least. I know it has a basis in theory but it seems like every individual person has their own definition of what it means. Chuds use it basically interchangeably with "woke", libs use it as a cudgel against marginalized groups who call them out on their moderate-fascist bullshit, and for a while I was under the impression that it was a nonsense term only used by our enemies.

But I see leftists here and in the wild using the term and I lack a theoretical understanding of its meaning and what phenomenon exactly it's describing.

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5 comments
  • It is a nonsense term and I am inherently skeptical of any leftist that invokes it. We already have terms like recuperation and cooptation that better describe what you are probably thinking of.

    "Identity politics" was literally coined by reactionaries.