Where Do Identity Politics Come From?

Identity politics is an expression of mass political demobilization, but it is also undergirded by the power of the nonprofit sector.

Despite all of our deepest wishes, the endless debates on the value of identity politics, and whether or not it undermines or gives expression to class politics, are not going anywhere. The identitarians are going to trot out ever more inflammatory demands. The academics are going to cheer them on. The right-wingers will parade both groups as somehow bo…