I first encountered the idea of Identity Politics in the Fall of 2023 when we read Francis Fukuyama\u2019s book Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. At the time, the concept of Identity Politics left me with a kind of hopeless feeling. That\u2019s not to say that I saw no good in the progress society has made; my lingering doubts had to do with questions about who gets to determine what is \u201cgood progress\u201d vs. what is detrimental to society.
Because of those lingering doubts, I found Yascha Mounk\u2019s book The Identity Trap to be a refreshing counterpoint to the metanarrative of Identity Politics. Preferring the term Identity Synthesis, Mounk links the development of this increasingly prevalent ideology to three intellectual traditions: Post-modernism, Post-colonialism and Critical Race Theory.[1] In reaction to the current direction of society, \u201cMounk maintains that it is possible to acknowledge the full force of injustices, and earnestly attempt to remedy them, without succumbing to the identity synthesis.\u201d [2]
Mounk sets up two guardrails to avoid succumbing to the identity synthesis, and these are what I want to explore a bit in this post. Firstly, we separate the individual from the tribe. Secondly, we dialogue.
Admittedly, we all construct our identity partly around the tribe(s) to which we belong. My tribes might include female, Evangelical Anglican, (previously) Mennonite, missionary. But, as Mounk affirms, there is so much more to a person than simply his or her tribe. A person\u2019s identity is as much as individual idiosyncrasies, unique traits as it is about the box he or she fits into. [3]
This recalls something that has stuck with me from Jonita\u2019s post on Francis Fukuyama. In discussing identity, she said, \u201cI am so many things, a beautiful and complex combination of many imperfect things.\u201d [4] We subsequently discussed how labels and tribes almost become a fa\u00e7ade; we don\u2019t truly get to know each other if we just see each other as a member of this or that tribe. We certainly aren\u2019t entering into genuine, holy community with others if we only see each other\u2019s facades. We\u2019re doomed to remain in a tribalism mentality.
To take this one step farther, tribalism or an overemphasis on group identity inevitably leads to \u201cvictim mentality and a pattern of destructive conflict. This is the trap to which Mounk refers in the title of his book, \u201cIdentity Trap.\u201d [5] We also heard Daniel Lieberman speak to this during our cohort chat in November. He suggested that the best way to combat a destructive us-vs-them mentality is to get to know a member of another tribe. [6] It is much harder to exclude and hate a whole group of people when some of them are your friends.
Mounk\u2019s second guardrail is open dialogue between opposing groups. Increasingly in recent years society seems to be going in a direction that \u201cstifles individuals’ ability to engage in dialogue and debate about crucial social and cultural matters.\u201d [7] Essentially, Mounk\u2019s remedy is informed argument protected by free speech. He says, \u201cfree speech provides us with a way to continue the conversation\u2026 If you lose free speech, we also lose the tool to self-correct.” [8]
This is something that I am trying to carry into my leadership context, but it\u2019s an up-and-down process. Sometimes I feel stifled in my dialogue and sometimes, I\u2019m sad to admit, it\u2019s me who stifles others. I am looking for creative ways to template this skill, as Eve Poole taught us. [9] And I\u2019m open to suggestions, if anyone has any!
Keeping in mind these two principles, humanizing the other and honest dialogue, I\u2019ll end with a final word from Mounk that I won\u2019t soon forget. He said in an interview that I listened to, \u201cIt\u2019s easy to criticize; it\u2019s hard to build.\u201d [10] That\u2019s a good word that I need to hear and to heed. May I become someone who criticizes less and builds more.
<\/p>\r\n
______________________________________________________<\/p>\r\n
[1] Coleman Hughes, \u201cYascha Mounk on The Identity Trap,\u201d September 30, 2023 in The Good Fight produced by Persuasion, podcast, (25.45) [1] Coleman Hughes, \u201cYascha Mounk on The Identity Trap,\u201d September 30, 2023 in The Good Fight produced by Persuasion, podcast, (25.45) https:\/\/www.persuasion.community\/p\/mounk2#details<\/p>\r\n
[2] Brian Stewart, \u201cMounk\u2019s New Conviction,\u201d Commentary<\/em> (New York, United States: Commentary, November 2023).<\/p>\r\n [3] Coleman Hughes, \u201cYascha Mounk on The Identity Trap,\u201d September 30, 2023 in The Good Fight produced by Persuasion, podcast, (11:15).<\/p>\r\n [4] Jonita Fair-Payton. https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-is-your-identity\/<\/p>\r\n [5] THE IDENTITY TRAP: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. Kirkus Reviews, 19487428, 8\/1\/2023, Vol. 91, Issue 15.<\/p>\r\n [6] Cohort chat via Zoom, November 27, 2023.<\/p>\r\n [7] Brian Stewart, \u201cMounk\u2019s New Conviction,\u201d Commentary<\/em> (New York, United States: Commentary, November 2023).<\/p>\r\n [8] Coleman Hughes, \u201cYascha Mounk on The Identity Trap,\u201d September 30, 2023 in The Good Fight produced by Persuasion, podcast.<\/p>\r\n [9] Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/em> (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017).<\/p>\r\n [10] Coleman Hughes, \u201cYascha Mounk on The Identity Trap,\u201d September 30, 2023 in The Good Fight produced by Persuasion, podcast. (40:05)<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I first encountered the idea of Identity Politics in the Fall of 2023 when we read Francis Fukuyama\u2019s book Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. At the time, the concept of Identity Politics left me with a kind of hopeless feeling. That\u2019s not to say that I saw no good in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"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":[2310],"tags":[2489,2957],"class_list":["post-34675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-mounk","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34675","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\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34675"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34716,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34675\/revisions\/34716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}