Identity politics dominates the organisation of liberation movements today. This is the case whether fighting over one's birthright to a nation, such as in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict; lobbying for civil rights, such as in gay and lesbian campaigns for marriage; or struggling for citizenry recognition as currently experienced by asylum seekers. In this book Carolyn D'Cruz investigates the nexus between what David Birch describes as ’the seemingly impossible of high theory and the seemingly accessible possibilities of popular discourse’, as encountered in liberation movements based on identity. D'Cruz reworks the logic of such movements through the unique combination of Derridean deconstruction, Foucauldian discourse and Levinasian ethics. Moving both within and between the domains of philosophy, politics and ’postmodern culture’ this book offers both a clear explication of complex philosophical issues and an understanding of how they relate to the political practicalities of everyday life. (amazon)
There is a library in Malmö, Sweden where in addition to borrowing books, you can borrow a lesbian. The list of people for loan also includes an Imam, an animal rights activist, a Gypsy, and a journalist.
The rationale for this ‘Living Library Project’ is that a face-to-face encounter with a ‘representative’ of a particular identity group will go some way toward countering bigotry and preconceived stereotypes. (ibid, Introduction, p. 1)
now, how fucking interesting, this is
