| Lerninhalte |
Current debates in the public sphere and in Cultural Studies are often less concerned with class than with gender, 'race', ethnicity or religion. This is particularly evident when we focus on the politics of identity. The concept of identity politics, according to Griffin, "references a political disposition and political arguments founded on particular traits or interests concerning a specific group of people. [...] [I]dentity politics has been concerned with making political claims based on group identities that share these traits or interests." Identity politics, although it may be politically empowering, has also been criticized for its homogenising effect on those defined as groups and for viewing identity as fixed rather than as a process and for its inherent essentialism. The political tactics behind identity politics have been referred to as strategic essentialism by Spivak – acting based on a shared identity in the public arena in the interests of unity during a struggle for equal rights (cf. Chandler and Munday). The course provides an in-depth discussion of the relevant terms gender, 'race' and ethnicity, considers the absence of class from most of the current debates, looks at the potentially adverse and divisive effects of identity politics in multicultural societies like Britain, and introduces the concept of intersectionality (the idea that the forms of identity mentioned above do not work independently but interact to produce particularized forms of social oppression).
The obligatory texts for each session and the reading assignments are provided on Stud.IP. |
