Description
The ACG presents its important new pamphlet on identity politics –
The Politics of Division: An engagement with
identity politics
A contribution to the debate
To be human is to negotiate a balance between individual identity and collective action. We are each simultaneously individuals and social animals. This pamphlet does not seek to negate identity. Identity is important to our humanity, as well as being a major focus for oppression. What it seeks to do, rather, is to place revolutionary politics in the collective sphere. When anarchist-communists echo Kropotkin in saying “What we proclaim is The Right to Well-Being: Well-Being for All!” we are advancing a vision for a free society, the society we want to build.
In recent decades politics has moved a long way from expressing what it is we want to achieve and has instead refocused on expressing who it is I am and what I believe my heritage or essential characteristics to be, and this is often an emotive and painful issue, especially where, as so often, there has been a history of oppression and subjugation. While these are indeed important enquiries and will of course inform each individual’s perspective on what needs to change in our quest for a better society, this pamphlet argues that to be effective revolutionary politics must be about that shared future we seek to build. What makes each of us an anarchist communist – or whatever vision it is you might hold – is that set of values we will build the future upon.
This pamphlet is presented with respect for our many struggles and in anger at our many experiences of oppression, determined that our collective efforts will build a better future.
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