identity politics
noun
plural in form but singular or plural in construction
: politics in which groups of people having a particular racial, religious, ethnic, social, or cultural identity tend to promote their own specific interests or concerns without regard to the interests or concerns of any larger political group
Although the UCLA center's standards promoted rigorous history, they set off a major culture war because of their relentless emphasis on identity politics.—
Diane Ravitch
Diane RavitchIdentity politics is contemporary shorthand for a group's assertion that it is a meaningful group; that it differs significantly from other groups; that its members share a history of injustice and grievance; and that its psychological and political mission is to explore, act out, act on and act up its group identity.—Catharine R. Stimpson
Catharine R. StimpsonA number of critics have viewed her work through a lens of identity politics, taking her to be some sort of oracle of Muslim womanhood.—Lauren Collins
Lauren CollinsExamples of identity politics in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Rawls’s philosophy offers the kind of big picture vision that has been missing on the center-left for a generation—a unifying alternative to ‘identity politics’ grounded in the best of America’s political traditions.
—Daniel Chandler, TIME, 14 May 2024
One decried identity politics, another read a prayer for healing.
—Campbell Robertson, New York Times, 10 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for identity politics 
Daniel Chandler, TIME, 14 May 2024
One decried identity politics, another read a prayer for healing.
—Campbell Robertson, New York Times, 10 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for identity politics
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'identity politics.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near identity politics
Cite this Entry
“Identity politics.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity%20politics. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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