Tag Archives: Identity Politics

Was Tolkien really racist? Cornel Zuegler, CC BY-SA Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow In demonising orcs, the ugly, monstrous enemy of the elves, did JRR Tolkien betray a belief that “some races are worse than others”? That’s the debate that has been at the heart of claims in the British …

I almost feel sorry for Theresa May. Not so sorry that I don’t want her removed from office; to be honest she was a lacklustre and almost invisible Home Secretary and her slouch-shouldered, cringeworthy carriage does little to endear her to audiences. But she has done her job in a …

While some professions seem to be capitulating to the mores of millennial fragility and safe space culture without a shot being fired – including some of the industries once thought least likely to go soft – it is good to see at least one group pushing back. Sensing a looming threat from a Guardian Op-Ed which …

It is a far, far better thing that she does… High drama in Britain, as vaguely-known personality Sandi Toksvig reveals – at a meeting of the Women’s Equality Party – that she is not being paid the same as her predecessor, the much more widely known Stephen Fry, to host …

Any observer of Western politics will have noticed the rise and rise of Identity Politics.  Why is this happening? It was once tacitly assumed that the participants in political debate had good intentions even if you thought they had the wrong ideas.  Identity Politics abandons the assumption that opponents have …

Leftists to women: “Don’t you worry your pretty little minds with complicated talk about geopolitics, democracy or the long-term national interest – just think about Brexit in terms of whether you stand to gain or lose government benefits and entitlements” It must have seemed like a godsend to whichever scheming …

When anti-Brexit hysteria and identity politics collide… As the question of Britain’s future relationship with the European Union is folded ever more deeply into our ongoing culture war, it continues to be the establishment centre-left – that bipartisan group who broadly support the status quo of the past two decades …

Champions of intersectional identity politics in academia, culture and government have accrued near-hegemonic societal power for themselves by exploiting both the real and imagined oppression of certain groups on whose behalf they boldly presume to speak Last month, I wrote a short reflection on who is and is not effectively marginalized …

“The People vs Democracy” goes further than many other books which claim to “explain” Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, showing that it takes both sides – outraged establishment centrists as well as populist insurgents – to successfully undermine liberal democracy. Political renewal depends on the former group finally …

The marginalization of people and the marginalization of supposedly harmful ideas are very different phenomena, and the continued existence of the former neither requires nor excuses the latter Rod Dreher has a great reflection on his blog about who and what viewpoints in our present society are truly marginalised. Unsurprisingly, he …

I must admit that I have been waiting for this one. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the social justice censors came for The Mikado, that beloved Gilbert & Sullivan operetta set in a highly fictionalized version of Japan, and here we are. (My other long-standing …

Political tribalism is usually discussed as a pathology afflicting low-information voters and preying upon the working class, but since the EU referendum we have seen many leading pro-EU figures from the political, journalistic and academic elites – people who often make a great show of their education and superior capacity …

Europeans are apparently the latest persecuted minority in benighted, dystopian Brexit Britain From the annals of overwrought self-pity comes this piece from Nick Cohen in The Spectator, declaring that thanks to Brexit, Europeans are supposedly the latest designated victim class in Britain. Money quote: They have lived, worked and loved here. …

Is there any contemporary problem that the identity politics Left will not propose solving through the introduction of segregation? I see that the recurring debate about whether or not to introduce female-only train carriages has bubbled up again from the swamp of leftist thinking. Charlotte England tries to make the …

Identity politics cultists created Donald Trump, President-Elect Edition, and from much of their subsequent complaining they haven’t learned a single thing from their mistake Blogger and polemicist Phil Hendren is in unsparing mood as he takes the identity politics Left to task for their role in provoking the alleged “whitelash” …

The global, liberal elite are increasingly transcending any lingering commitment to patriotism and national identity, setting them on a collision course with the small-c conservative majority Michael Lind has an unmissable essay in the National Review this week, entitled “The Open-Borders ‘Liberaltarianism’ of the New Urban Elite“, which manages to explain …

Only this immensely privileged generation of students can afford the luxury of being Social Justice Warriors In the course of an interesting interview with the Guardian’s Decca Aitkenhead promoting his new novel “Nutshell”, author Ian McEwan digresses on the subject of identity politics. From the feature article: “Where I get a little …

Anyone can choose their words poorly under pressure. But the modern Left have made a habit of jumping on the verbal slips of other people and ruthlessly, cynically exploiting them for political gain using the weaponised language of identity politics. So forgive us for being less than sympathetic when one of …

There are a number of central claims to the Remain campaign. They are easily dismantled with the right analysis and the proper arguments. “3.5 million British jobs are directly linked to British membership of the European Union– 1 in 10 British jobs.” It is dishonest to say jobs depend on …