{"id":33100,"date":"2023-09-30T19:54:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T02:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33100"},"modified":"2023-09-30T19:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T02:54:42","slug":"frenemies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/frenemies\/","title":{"rendered":"Frenemies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In college my grades were directly dependent on how I performed relative to my peers. There were classes where I would routinely score in the 50s out of 100 and end up with the same \u201cB\u201d letter grade as a class where I scored 96 out of 100. And in some ways, it made sense. Educational institutions, even for those serving younger students, seem to be built on a foundation of competition. In the U.S., social institutions in general can tend to be competitive, from our labor markets, to our higher education admissions processes, and even the fabric of our country, our democratic elections.[1]<\/a> This competitive nature has simply become our understanding of the world. I don\u2019t think of my successes as depriving others of something. And yet, in some ways it does. If I score highly on a test, that means others\u2019 relative score gets pushed down. If I beat out a group to secure a job, I have a salary and healthcare that they possibly also needed for themselves and their family. And in the political sphere especially, if the candidate I was hoping for won I don\u2019t necessarily see it as a loss for the other close to 50% of the population.<\/p>\n

In his book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment<\/em>, Francis Fukuyama explores how our competitive society, with our needs for individual recognition, can be held in tension with and balanced with a need for social solidarity. Specifically, he explores the role of identity in that tension.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s curious that when we think about the phrase \u201cidentity politics\u201d we associate it with negative feelings. The phrase was first coined by Barbara Smith, a Black feminist, and the Combahee River collective in 1974[3]<\/a>. \u201cIdentity politics\u201d was supposed to be a more profound because it would \u201ccome directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody else\u2019s oppression.\u201d[4]<\/a> Understanding differences in experience: racial, economic, gender, and other oppressions that bound experiences and influenced their lives would help ensure no one would be forgotten or left behind.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

That last part is key. It was meant to bring people along, not exclude. So what happened? Francis Fukuyama seemed to understand that there are forces at play that could turn the good that identity politics could do into a divisive and destructive tool.[6]<\/a> I would argue that perhaps the competitive nature of our society\u2019s basic structures and institutions have distorted the good in identity politics. Competition is in itself not inherently bad. Again, society is rife with what philosopher Waheed Hussain would call \u201crivalry-defining arrangements\u201d.[7]<\/a> These range from something as simple and trivial as a tennis match to my aforementioned grading system. The problem begins when the stakes are no longer trivial and include essential goods and services[8]<\/a>, and it seems in Fukuyama\u2019s mind, one\u2019s dignity.[9]<\/a> Somehow, politics doesn\u2019t just mean one candidate is chosen along with their respective monetary, foreign, and whatever policy anymore. The goods and services that people need along with tenants core to their dignity and identity are seemingly threatened. Instead of bringing everyone along then, identity politics actively excludes.<\/p>\n

Fukuyama\u2019s plea for the nation then resounds: how do we distinguish who we are, fight for the ways in which we\u2019ve been marginalized and oppressed and also maintain social unity in thinking of others? [10]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Waheed Hussain, \u201cPitting People Against Each Other,\u201d Philosophy and Public Affairs<\/em> 48, no.1 (February 2020): 79-113, https:\/\/doi-org.georgefox.idm.oclc.org\/10.1111\/papa.12158<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Francis Fukuyama, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment<\/em>. (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2020), 11.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Alicia Garza, \u201cIdentity Politics: Friend or Foe?,\u201d UC Berkeley Othering and Belonging Institute<\/em>, September 24, 2019, https:\/\/belonging.berkeley.edu\/identity-politics-friend-or-foe.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Fukuyama, Identity<\/em>, 16.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Hussain, \u201cPitting People Against Each Other\u201d.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Fukuyama, Identity, <\/em>39.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid, 244.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In college my grades were directly dependent on how I performed relative to my peers. There were classes where I would routinely score in the 50s out of 100 and end up with the same \u201cB\u201d letter grade as a class where I scored 96 out of 100. And in some ways, it made sense. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2837],"class_list":["post-33100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01-fukuyama-identity","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33101,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33100\/revisions\/33101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}