Of course I just thought of about fifty examples to sorta contradict myself, but not...MYSELF -- i.e., I understand how one would take pride in defining themselves as: Democrat, Christian, gay, black, woman, Argentine, etc. etc. etc; but I personally always get uncomfortable being defined (or self-defining) in such a group way. (I suspect Frank does as well.)
Somewhat relates to a problem we had in a politics seminar back in college, where my teacher wanted to discuss institutional questions of racial definition thru history (from Columbus to Dinesh D'Souza) while most of the class wanted to talk about what sortsa hyphens they could put in front of "American" (or whatever nationality). Problem being, the cops/people on the street/institutions etc. don't necessarily see you how you see yourself, and no great political challenge will come (only) through self-definition (in fact, we discussed at great length the extent to which multi-culturalism, not a bad thing by any means, had undone or undermined or deflected institutional changes effected by the civil rights movement by suggesting equal -- but clearly distinct along racial/cultural lines -- "classes" of sorts.
I guess I'm just dancing around my general discomfort with identity politics in the face of what I think is the more pressing and interesting issue of group definition from the outside. How one is labeled, not nec. how one labels him/herself (hence my interest in the War on Lindsay, esp. as it relates to the agency of these 'slebs in perpetuating their own negative image).
Re: empirical claim (dispute or disprove?):
Somewhat relates to a problem we had in a politics seminar back in college, where my teacher wanted to discuss institutional questions of racial definition thru history (from Columbus to Dinesh D'Souza) while most of the class wanted to talk about what sortsa hyphens they could put in front of "American" (or whatever nationality). Problem being, the cops/people on the street/institutions etc. don't necessarily see you how you see yourself, and no great political challenge will come (only) through self-definition (in fact, we discussed at great length the extent to which multi-culturalism, not a bad thing by any means, had undone or undermined or deflected institutional changes effected by the civil rights movement by suggesting equal -- but clearly distinct along racial/cultural lines -- "classes" of sorts.
I guess I'm just dancing around my general discomfort with identity politics in the face of what I think is the more pressing and interesting issue of group definition from the outside. How one is labeled, not nec. how one labels him/herself (hence my interest in the War on Lindsay, esp. as it relates to the agency of these 'slebs in perpetuating their own negative image).