Against the New Politics of Identity
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In Against the New Politics of Identity, philosopher Ronald A. Lindsay offers a sustained criticism of the far-reaching cultural transformation occurring across much of the West by which individuals are defined primarily by their group identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Driven largely by the political Left, this transformation has led to the wholesale grouping of individuals into oppressed and oppressor classes in both theory and practice. He warns that the push for identity politics on the Left predictably elicits a parallel reaction from the Right, including the Right\\u2019s own version of identity politics in the form of Christian nationalism. As Lindsay makes clear, the symbiotic relationship that has formed between these two political poles risks producing even deeper threats to Enlightenment values and Western democracy. If we are to preserve a liberal democracy in which the rights of individuals are respected, he concludes, the dogmas of identity politics must be challenged and refuted. Against the New Politics of Identity offers a principled path for doing so.
Shermer and Lindsay discuss: identity politics: identity or politics? \\u2022 woke ideology \\u2022 overt racism vs. systemic racism \\u2022 liberalism vs. illiberalism \\u2022 woke progressive leftists motivations? \\u2022 Critical Race Theory (CRT) \\u2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) \\u2022 What is progressive? What is woke? \\u2022 standpoint epistemology \\u2022 equality vs. equity \\u2022 race \\u2022 class \\u2022 cancel culture \\u2022 Christian nationalism.
Dr. Ronald Lindsay, a philosopher (PhD, Georgetown University) and lawyer (JD, University of Virginia) is the author of The Necessity of Secularism and Future Bioethics. Although his non-fiction works focus on different topics, two threads unite them: Lindsay\\u2019s gift for thinking critically about accepted narratives and his strong commitment to individual rights, whether it\\u2019s the right to assisted dying, the right to religious freedom, or the right of individuals to be judged on their own merit, as opposed to their group identity. In addition to his books, Lindsay has also written numerous philosophical and legal essays, including the entry on Euthanasia in the International Encyclopedia of Ethics. In his spare time, Lindsay plays baseball\\u2014baseball, not softball. The good news is he maintains a batting average near .300; the bad news is his fielding average is not much higher. A native of Boston, Ron Lindsay currently lives in Loudoun County, Virginia with his wife, Debra, where their presence is usually tolerated by their cat. His new book is: Against the New Politics of Identity: How the Left\\u2019s Dogmas on Race and Equity Harm Liberal Democracy and Invigorate Christian Nationalism.
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