On this note, the film Salt of the Earth, which had substantial CP
involvement has a strong anti-sexist, anti-racist, workers' power
message to it. If anything, it offers an analysis that looks
something like intersectionality avant la lettre (to be honest, it
might be a little more sophisticated.) On the other hand, I've
been confused about the term 'identity' within this debate, why is
the term 'identity' exclusively tied to post 68 liberal
multiculturalism? Why isn't Marcus Garvey's movement equally about
identity? Or 19th century feminism? Or Black Power? Or Negritude?
(I can go on.) All of these movements were tied to something that
could be called identity. I'm more than willing to be proven wrong
here, but isn't it possible to separate something that might be
called politics of identity from liberal multiculturalism, and
instead see liberal multiculturalism as a sort of apparatus of
capture of several modes of political organization that had some
linkages to something called identity? Robert Wood
> ^^^^^
> CB: Also, Communist slogans like "Workers of all countries , unite" and
> "Black and white, unite and fight" , and concerns such as "the national
> question " and " the woman's question" were pre-identity politics.They
> were put forth , not because the working class was thought to be
> unitary, but because it was seen as not unitary, as diverse, and had to
> be united across its diversity to carry out its historic task. The
> diversity of the working class was recognized by Communists before the
> identity politics movement.
>
> Did the identity politics movement frame itself as in this tradition
> that preceded it ? From what I can tell , the identity politics movement
> acted as if was the first to deal with these questions. That is what
> seems implied in Kim Moody's comment.
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