What Role Should Identity Play in Building Diverse Alliances? A Case Study of a Regional Network

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, critics of identity politics have argued that progressive social movements organized on the basis of shared biological or social traits—such as race, gender, class, and sexual orientation—may succeed in achieving recognition and legitimacy for their particular groups, but probably will not effect broad, systemic changes. Many of these critics suggest that people need to work together, across traditional identity lines, to solve the problems brought about by today's global economy. These include the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the creation of a two-tiered labor market in which many white- and blue-collar employees have been re-classified as temporary, contract workers. Since the 1990s, a similar argument has been made by other scholars and activists about the need for new coalitions to solve problems related to climate change, which they suggest will be mitigated only if we bring together unusual bedfellows, such as environmentalists and community-based social justice organizations.