Kenan Malik on Identity Politics

‘Contemporary identity politics is less about confronting injustice than about rebranding it,’ Kenan Malik has written.

At the Wheeler Centre in April, the provocative and insightful London-based scholar will outline his ideas on the limitations of our preoccupation with identity. What do we mean by ‘identity politics’ anyway? And how does the debate about identity relate to the wider debates that now dominate politics, on immigration, populism and diversity?

Malik will pull apart the arguments, critiquing claims from both the right and the left. He’ll trace the roots of identity politics – from its nationalist, anti-Enlightenment roots, through the struggles of the civil rights movement to the present day.

After a 20-minute presentation, he’ll talk with Peter Mares and take audience questions. Join him for a conversation about the complicated meaning of justice, liberation and solidarity today.  

Presented in Partnership with the Cranlana Programme.

Dymocks Camberwell will be our bookseller for this event.