A moderate, judicious, and ultimately bland look at identity
politics. Minow (Law/Harvard) sees the issue of human identity in a
pluralistic society as a series of paradoxes. Consider: The
struggle to be an individual is apparently universal; it is
impossible to have an individual identity in isolation from others;
maintaining a tolerant political system requires some intolerance
of the intolerant; and the central paradox animating her thoughts
on identity, the "possibility of forging commitment to others
without relinquishing commitment to oneself." She examines the
general nature of identity and membership in a group, the role of
law in reinforcing group identities, the dilemma of redressing
wrongs against groups without sacrificing the individual, the
special problems of who should control school curricula and the
place of education in establishing identities, and the supposed
dangers of political fragmentation along identity lines. The effort
throughout to couch the discussion in terms of paradoxes is
intriguing and especially illuminating in regard to the legal
system (for instance, she notes that even the need to enforce equal
opportunity laws requires that people be viewed as members of
particular groups), but the indeterminacy is frustrating. True to
form, Minow's closing suggestions for moving society in a positive
direction are "linked, but contrasting responses." Each embraces a
"but also" that transforms the analytical paradoxes into
paradoxical recommendations for action, e.g., permit parents to
select schools "and thus student peers" for their children, but
also "subject those choices to constraints and incentives to
promote exposure to diverse others, not selected by the parents."
Although Minow believes that embracing the paradoxes of human
identity will minimize fruitless exchanges between antagonists
committed to opposing ideals, there is reason to wonder whether the
potential for conflict has really been altered. A fine mind is at
work here, but splitting hairs may not suffice in resolving these
issues. (Kirkus Reviews)
In Not Only for Myself , Harvard Law professor and leading critical
legal scholar Martha Minow uses well-known incidents, such as the
furor over the casting of Miss Saigon and the confirmation hearings
of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to explain the legal
issues bearing on such incendiary questions as affirmative action,
segregation, racial redistricting, and "identity politics."
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