Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment

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The New York Times bestselling author of The Origins of Political Order offers a provocative examination of modern identity politics: its origins, its effects, and what it means for domestic and international affairs of stateIn 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to “the people,” who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole. Demand for recognition of one’s identity is a master concept that unifies much of what is going on in world politics today. The universal recognition on which liberal democracy is based has been increasingly challenged by narrower forms of recognition based on nation, religion, sect, race, ethnicity, or gender, which have resulted in anti-immigrant populism, the upsurge of politicized Islam, the fractious “identity liberalism” of college campuses, and the emergence of white nationalism. Populist nationalism, said to be rooted in economic motivation, actually springs from the demand for recognition and therefore cannot simply be satisfied by economic means. The demand for identity cannot be transcended; we must begin to shape identity in a way that supports rather than undermines democracy.Identity is an urgent and necessary book—a sharp warning that unless we forge a universal understanding of human dignity, we will doom ourselves to continuing conflict. Title Page......Page 2 Copyright Notice......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Preface......Page 6 1. The Politics of Dignity......Page 13 2. The Third Part of the Soul......Page 20 3. Inside and Outside......Page 29 4. From Dignity to Democracy......Page 38 5. Revolutions of Dignity......Page 42 6. Expressive Individualism......Page 48 7. Nationalism and Religion......Page 55 8. The Wrong Address......Page 66 9. Invisible Man......Page 72 10. The Democratization of Dignity......Page 80 11. From Identity to Identities......Page 90 12. We the People......Page 104 13. Stories of Peoplehood......Page 115 14. What Is to Be Done?......Page 132 Notes: Preface......Page 147 Notes 1......Page 148 Notes 2......Page 149 Notes 3......Page 150 Notes 4......Page 151 Notes 6......Page 152 Notes 7......Page 153 Notes 8......Page 154 Notes 9......Page 155 Notes 10......Page 156 Notes 11......Page 157 Notes 12......Page 159 Notes 13......Page 161 Notes 14......Page 163 Bibliography......Page 165 Index......Page 169 Also by Francis Fukuyama......Page 182 A Note About the Author......Page 183 Newsletter Sign-up......Page 184 Copyright......Page 187 Leere Seite......Page 1