Social Theory and the Politics of Identity

aeo Political identity is becoming the key issue within social and cultural theory at the centurya s end. aeoThis groundbreaking volume is an excellent introduction to the debates around identity politics. The new social movements of the postwar era have brought to prominence the idea that identity can be a crucial focus for political struggle. The civil rights movement, anti-colonial movements in the Third World, the women's movement, the gay movement - all have sought the affirmation of excluded identities as publicly good and politically salient. Similar issues have long informed nationalist struggles. The rise of identity politics is also linked to an increasing recognition that social theory itself must be a discourse with many voices. An increasingly transnational sphere of public and academic discourse - and increasing roles for women, gay men and lesbians, people of color, and various previously excluded groups - impels all social theorists not only to make sense of differences in society, but to make sense of differences within the discourse of theory. This collective volume is the product of that conviction. New social movements of the post-war era have brought to prominence the idea that identity can be a crucial focus for political struggle. Linked to an increasing recognition that social theory itself must put the politics of identity on center stage, this volume impels social theorists not only to make sense of the "world out there", but also to make sense of differences within the discourse of theory.