Identity politics was bound to
become more attractive with the fall of Communism and a diminished need for the
unity provided by "American Civil Religion" against our "enemy"--
"the godless communists".
The
rise of "identity politics" is also easy to imagine in light of the
increasingly-evident limits of government activism. Consider how few
discussions we have now on public policy-- evidence that govt has little to
offer. As such, govt often reduces to the pursuit of power-- and identity
politics and tribal politics are the increasingly favored approaches of the two
major political parties.
Here,the speaker points to its rise through anti-colonialism and post-modernism.