POLS 334 - Identity Politics

CR: 3
Prerequisite: POLS 159 . The study of social identity, while always central to politics, has taken on new relevancy in recent discourse. The politics of race, gender, class, and sexuality are some of the most central issues of our time. Rather than being seen as a pejorative or secondary aspect of politics, the politics of social identity address group-based and material-based inequality in the American political system. This course will cover both the sources of that inequality as well as how group-based politics around social identity form in response to them. We will discuss the logic of collective action, solidarity movements, and the role of intersectionality in contemporary discourse. We will deal with both the theoretical foundations of social difference as well as how current politicians and parties relate to it.