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Social Science Minority Studies

Identity/Difference Politics

How Difference Is Produced, and Why It Matters

by (author) Rita Dhamoon

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Jan 2010
Category
Minority Studies, Globalization, General, Women's Studies, General, Gender Studies, People with Disabilities, Political
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774858779
    Publish Date
    Jan 2010
    List Price
    $29.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774815918
    Publish Date
    Jan 2010
    List Price
    $32.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774815901
    Publish Date
    Apr 2009
    List Price
    $37.95

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Description

Theories of liberal multiculturalism have come to dominate debates about identity and difference politics in contemporary western political theory. Identity/Difference Politics offers a nuanced critique of these debates by switching the focus from culture to power. Issues of power are examined through accounts of meaning-making – those processes through which meanings of difference are produced, organized, and regulated. Other forms of identity/difference such as whiteness, ableism, gender, and heteronormativity establish the analytic and normative value of Dhamoon’s alternative theoretical framework, and reveal that an exclusive preoccupation with culture can dissolve into essentialism – which too often provides a rationale for state regulation of groups deemed to be too different.

About the author

Contributor Notes

Rita Dhamoon teaches in the Department of Philosophy and Political Science at the University of the Fraser Valley, British Columbia. She is co-editor of Sexual Justice/Cultural Justice: Critical Perspectives in Political Theory and Practice.

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