The Politics of Identity
Liberal Political Theory and the Dilemmas of Difference
1. Edition March 2004
224 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This book provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of the ways in which Anglo-American political theorists have responded to the emergence of a politics of identity in democratic society. It examines the merits and weaknesses of the ideas associated with the major schools and thinkers in contemporary philosophical liberalism. It also provides a critical exploration of the arguments of their pluralist rivals, including advocates of multiculturalism, 'difference' and recognition.
Kenny illustrates how debates over such concepts as identity, difference, recognition and culture are intertwined with political theorists' characterizations of democracy, citizenship and civil society. In an analysis that juxtaposes normative political theory with the study of social movements and change, the author challenges two widely held ideas about the relationship between liberal democracy and culturally based groups. He questions the assertion that there is no place for identity based political argument in the public life of a democracy. And he challenges the pluralist conviction that the re-emergence of collective identities signals the demise of liberal culture and political thought.
Written in a clear and accessible style, The Politics of Identity is intended for students, scholars and general readers interested in contemporary political and social thought, political ideologies, and political culture.
Preface..
.
1 The Character and Origins of the Politics of Identity..
.
2 The Politics of Identity in Liberal Political Theory..
.
3 Citizenship, Public Reason and Collective Identity..
.
4 Civil Society and the Morality of Association..
.
5 The Public Faces of Identity Politics..
.
6 Identities in Motion: the Political Ethics of Social
Movements..
.
7 Liberalism and the Politics of Difference..
.
8 Liberalism and the Politics of Recognition..
.
9 Conclusions.
Notes..
References and Bibliography.
Index.
which should attract the attention of both political philosophers
and sociologists."
British Journal of Sociology
"Michael Kenny identifies, analysis and deftly cuts
through the obstacles that have heretofore impeded or precluded
communication between Kantian-universalist liberals, on the one
hand, and multicultural particularists, on the other. Although
ultimately siding with the former over the latter, Kenny
nevertheless shows very nicely how and what liberals can learn from
multiculturalists. The politics of Identity is a timely and
welcomed contribution to one of the central theoretical and
political debate of our time."
Terrance Wall, Arizona State University
"An authoritative, detailed and lucid examination of one of
the key questions preoccupying political philosophers and policy
makers alike. No better account of the challenges posed to
Anglophone liberal philosophy by the politics of identity has been
provided."
Jeremy Jennings, Birmingham University
"The politics of Identity sensitively argues that liberals
and their multicultural critics have over inflate the difference
between themselves, reducing each others position to unnuanced
caricatures. As a consequence, identity politics wrongly appears
wholly incompatible and threatening to liberal political theory.
For Kenny, liberalism has always been conceptually more robust and
more flexible than both its opponents and even proponents have
recognized, and this is because, in part, both liberals and their
detractors. have lost sight of the richly textured contours of the
liberal traditions. This book has long been overdue."
David Weinstein, Wake Forest University