Name: Lakatos Bercel Lukács Neptun code: YGQEWB

Reflections on Identity Politics

The author of the current article being analyzed (Fukuyama, 2018), has written a variety of
books, monographs, journal articles, and reviews published by academic publishers. He
became world-famous with his book, The End of History and the Last Man (Fukuyama,
1992). In the current article under investigation, hand in hand with other works he has written,
he acknowledges that he predicted the ultimate triumph of the liberal world order wrongly. As
he puts it, there was a process which “slowed the movement toward an increasingly open and
liberal world order, which began to falter and soon reversed” (Fukuyama, 2018, p. 91).

Identity politics started in the 1960s with the empowerment movements of blacks, women,
then homosexuals, the disabled, and many other previously disadvantaged groups. The main
debate concerning this topic that whether identity politics is threatening the liberal democratic
world order. The latter concept was favorized by Fukuyama, who predicted the “end of
history”, the ultimate victory of liberalism.

Some say it does endanger it, among whom there is Fukuyama himself, whose view is that
identity politics hardens the possibility of common action, comes with fragmentation. His
universalist approach stands for common human dignity instead of focusing on a variety of
marginalized groups (Anderson, 2019, p. 48).

Other scholars disagree with the statements above, arguing that if the notion of universalism is
exercised, the experiences of oppressed groups are neglected, and they have to assimilate into
a wider society which has historically dominated them (Bunte, 2022, p. 5). These authors
would rather be focusing on individual differences, as, according to their understanding,
minority groups need special recognition, or even positive discrimination to be able to prosper
in our society.

According to Fukuyama in the currently analyzed article, “identity politics has become a
master concept” (Fukuyama, 2018, p. 92) in today’s political arena. He argues that the left
side of the political spectrum has turned away from its original objective, being in favour of
egalitarianism, redistribution of wealth and the expansion of the state. In his understanding,
the left has shifted its policy towards minorities who are seldom large enough to represent
substantial layers of society. In a way, they have turned their backs to the traditional working
class, because it seemed that it had been supported by trade unions and the welfare state,
Name: Lakatos Bercel Lukács Neptun code: YGQEWB

while oppressed groups like immigrants or blacks had not received adequate attention (op. cit.
p. 96).

This, according to Fukuyama, is not a problematic issue in itself, but as right-wing populist
leaders have embraced this notion of identity politics using it for nationalist and religious
purposes, making their voters demand the same recognition, it proved to be unsuccessful and
puts the effectiveness of collective human action at risk (op. cit. p. 101).

Although I find many similarities between Fukuyama’s arguments and mine, I must disagree
with some of his points.

First of all, I support his claims about the notion that identity politics poses a threat to
effective cooperation between political groups and creates a fragmented society. I can agree
with Fukuyama’s thoughts on political correctness and free speech, that it puts an excessive
burden on the speaker, who is uncertain whether the words they are about to use are seen as
accepted by a certain political community. This, in his words, “threaten[s] no fundamental
democratic principles” (op. cit. p. 102). Although, I cannot agree with his idea that extreme
political correctness is only advocated by a distinctive subset of intellectuals on the left, and
conservative media is cherry-picking the instances of cases when the right for speech was
abused. Instead, I propose that political correctness has been shaping the attitudes of people
on a large scale (especially at university campuses), influencing the vocabulary heavily which
is regarded as non-offensive (Deresiewicz, 2017, p. 32).

On the other hand, I do not agree with Fukuyama on that the identity politics of the left has
brought about the identity politics of the right. Take the case of migration, for instance.
Massive immigration flows from Africa and the Middle East to Europe wasn’t prompted by a
process in which immigrants and refugees received more minority rights. Their incentive has
been primarily to flee war and environmental destruction which is happening with the location
they had lived in for centuries. In my view, the anti-migration policies of right-wing parties,
which Fukuyama and many other scholars denote as “populist” (op. cit. 102; Bunte, 2022, p.
3), is a natural reaction to immigration pressures, and it would have appeared without the
identity politics of the left. In other words, the fact that these two processes happen at the
same time is merely a coincidence. As far as I am concerned, Fukuyama is trying to say
something extraordinary in his essay, however, he depicts causal relationships which are not
necessarily there.
Name: Lakatos Bercel Lukács Neptun code: YGQEWB

References

Anderson, A. B. (2019) Book Review: Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of
Resentment, by Francis Fukuyama. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe.
18 (1), p. 47-52. Available from:
http://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2019/Anderson_2019.pdf
[Accessed: 20th May 2024]
Bunte, L. (2022) Identity Politics: A critical analysis of Francis Fukuyama’s thesis on the
threat of identity politics to liberal democracies. M. Sc. Thesis. Nijmegen School of
Management. Available from: https://theses.ubn.ru.nl/items/489c8ff0-7429-44f0-b901-
63aa7fc9f110 [Accessed: 20th May 2024].
Deresiewicz, W. (2017) On Political Correctness. The American Scholar. 86 (2) p. 30-42.
Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26755930 [Accessed: 21th May 2024]
Fukuyama, F. (1992) The End of History and the Last Man. New York, Free Press.
Fukuyama, F. (2018) Against Identity Politics: The New Tribalism and the Crisis of
Democracy. Foreign Affairs. 97 (5), pp. 90-94, 96-102, 104-114. Available from:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44823914 [Accessed: 19th May 2024]
Stanford. Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. (2023) Francis
Fukuyama. Available from: https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/people/fukuyama [Accessed: 19th
May 2024]