Identity politics and the problem of essentialism
The question of political collectives in a postmodern context
Keywords:
Essentialism, Feminist theory, seriality, postmodernism, identity politicsAbstract
The central question that will be investigated in the scope of this article is whether or not it is possible to establish political collectives based on a postmodern, anti-essentialist ontology. The postmodern critique of essentialism makes categories such as ‘woman’ inherently suspicious but without such mobilizing categories the fight for equality for women is difficult if not impossible. I will analyze Iris Marion Young’s attempt to salvage this problem through a theory of the collective as seriality. My conclusion is that Young only manages to dislocate the problem of essentialism instead of providing a real solution to it.
References
Arendt, Hannah. 1962. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Cleveland and New York: Meridian Books.
Fuss, Diana. 1990. “The ‘Risk of Essence”. In Essentially Speaking: Feminism, Nature and Difference. London: Routledge, pp. 1-23.
Grillo, Trina. 2013. “Anti-Essentialism and Intersectionality: Tools to Dismantle the Master's House”. In Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 16-30.
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. 1995. “Feminist encounters: locating the politics of experience”. In Social postmodernism: Beyond identity politics (Nicholson, Linda; Seidman, Steven, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 68-87.
Mouffe, Chantal. 2005. The Return of the Political. London: Verso.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. 2007. Existentialism is a Humanism. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Sennott, Shannon L. 2011. “Gender Disorder as Gender Oppression: A Transfeminist Approach to Rethinking the Pathologization of Gender Non-Conformity”. In Women and Therapy. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Young, Iris Marion. 1995. “Gender as seriality: thinking about women as a social collective”. In Social postmodernism: Beyond identity politics (Nicholson, Linda; Seidman, Steven, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 187-216.
Fuss, Diana. 1990. “The ‘Risk of Essence”. In Essentially Speaking: Feminism, Nature and Difference. London: Routledge, pp. 1-23.
Grillo, Trina. 2013. “Anti-Essentialism and Intersectionality: Tools to Dismantle the Master's House”. In Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 16-30.
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. 1995. “Feminist encounters: locating the politics of experience”. In Social postmodernism: Beyond identity politics (Nicholson, Linda; Seidman, Steven, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 68-87.
Mouffe, Chantal. 2005. The Return of the Political. London: Verso.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. 2007. Existentialism is a Humanism. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Sennott, Shannon L. 2011. “Gender Disorder as Gender Oppression: A Transfeminist Approach to Rethinking the Pathologization of Gender Non-Conformity”. In Women and Therapy. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Young, Iris Marion. 1995. “Gender as seriality: thinking about women as a social collective”. In Social postmodernism: Beyond identity politics (Nicholson, Linda; Seidman, Steven, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 187-216.
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Published
2020-04-02
How to Cite
Nielsen, A.-S. S. (2020). Identity politics and the problem of essentialism: The question of political collectives in a postmodern context. Journal of Media, Cognition and Communication, 8(1), 26–43. Retrieved from https://tidsskrift.dk/mef-journal/article/view/112636
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