Identity/Difference Politics

Dhamoon forces us to rethink the concept of culture ... in liberal multiculturalism through a subtle, thorough engagement with its dominant thinkers. She clarifies and expands the scope of radical critiques of this field ... outlining the contours of other ways of understanding identity and difference that point towards new, more progressive understandings of democracy, subjectivity, and citizenship. -- Richard Day, author of Multiculturalism and the History of Canadian Diversity Debates over multiculturalism in contemporary political theory have been dominated by a focus on culture - its nature, meaning, and value. In Rita Dhamoon's excellent new book, she provides a refreshing challenge to this conceptual orthodoxy. She insists that we shift our focus from culture to power and, as a result, is able to ask some hard questions about the nature and practice of liberal multiculturalism. Dhamoon's book is an insightful and refreshing tonic, sure to provoke - in a reflective and productive way - defenders and critics of multiculturalism alike. -- Duncan Ivison, author of Postcolonial Liberalism and Rights In her innovative critique of political theory debates over multiculturalism and difference in Canada and the United States, Dhamoon develops an "account of meaning-making" that attunes us to the complexities of power as it interfaces with cultural patterns. With new and compelling case studies, she moves us out of the linguistic focus of Kymlicka and Taylor in Canada and the religious/ethnic focus of many American tracts. -- Hawley Fogg-Davis, author of The Ethics of Transracial Adoption

Identity/Difference Politics offers a new direction for the study of identity/difference, one that moves beyond liberal multiculturalism’s preoccupation with culture.

Theories of liberal multiculturalism have come to dominate debates about identity and difference politics in recent contemporary western political theory. This book offers a nuanced critique of these debates by questioning liberal multiculturalism’s preoccupation with culture and, just as important, its unintended consequences.

Identity/Difference Politics switches the focus from culture to power. Issues of power are examined through accounts of meaning-making – those processes through which meanings of difference are produced, organized, and regulated. Other forms of identity/difference such as whiteness, ableism, gender, and heteronormativity establish the analytic and normative value of Dhamoon’s alternative theoretical framework, and reveal that an exclusive preoccupation with culture can dissolve into essentialism – which too often provides a rationale for state regulation of groups deemed to be too different. Students of contemporary political theory, multiculturalism, identity politics, Canadian politics and culture, dis/ablity studies, critical race theory, and feminist and gender theory will find it an invaluable resource.