Identity politics: the triumph of equality over freedom?

Failing to “treat people the same” has become a secular sin. Only enforced uniformity can secure a new standard of inclusive justice.  It’s the language of the ‘fair go’; but it’s actually the battle cry of the new ‘minority fundamentalists’.

Minority fundamentalism has all the features of the various religious fundamentalisms so despised by the latte-sipping Green-Left: ideological fanaticism, intolerance of dissent, and Manichaean certainty about truth and falsehood.

Its playbook includes using intimidation, humiliation, and self-censorship to punish those who think differently. Its purpose is to eradicate all forms of discrimination in the name of liberating the ‘oppressed’.

Gender, race, and sexual orientation are the most frequently cited categories of oppression. Safe Schools Coalition campaigners and same-sex marriage advocates all insist their goal is justice.

None of this can be questioned — and offence can be taken so quickly. Freedoms of speech, conscience and association comprise the very foundations of our common life; but they are now under threat. The right to equality trumps all.

This is because ‘equality’ has become associated with ‘disadvantage’: those who bear any burden of incapacity are judged to be less equal in society. Rights such as the right to equality are intended to address that disadvantage.

But as the discourse continues to shift from the realm of reason to the realm of emotion, so the grievances of minority fundamentalists are more likely to take root. As they do so, a ‘democratic deficit’ is widening.

This deficit arises as democratic institutions fail to uphold the principles of democracy. It is indicative of an increasing readiness on the part of self-appointed moral guardians to privilege the sensitivities of the minority over those of the majority.

By prioritising equality over freedom, identity politics threatens to lock people into specific categories at the expense of individual liberty — all in its pursuit of democratic egalitarianism.

The rise of identity politics, intended to protect specific minority groups, has had a serious impact on the health of Australian democracy. It purports to act in the name of equality as a buttress against tyranny but, in reality, threatens to foster it.

 

Peter Kurti is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies and the author of the research report The Democratic Deficit: How Minority Fundamentalism Threatens Liberty in Australia.