Class vs Identity Politics

[Capitalist Octopus]

There's obviously an ongoing debate on what role the two should play in rad left politics. In terms of how much importance, how the two mesh, etc.

What are your thoughts? On how it should be, and what the current state of the two is.

Personally, on the university campus I am at, I see identity politics dominating, and even though it's intersected with class, the identity aspect is stressed.

[#FF0000]

Yeah I don't think enough attention is paid to class generally.

Of course race and gender and all that are still important (and are too often written off by communists). I don't think the class struggle alone is just going to end with everyone suddenly being free from all forms of oppression. sexism/patriarchy and racism/white supremacy need to be identified and understood in order to be destroyed and just pretending that it'll go away when the revolution comes is silly, I think.

[Raúl Duke]

Among the left, certain leftists I feel have a more or less balanced approached between class and "identity" (i.e. race, gender, sexual orientation) while other leftists ignore identity altogether (as mistake I feel.)

Among people in Tumblr, online, and in certain universities I feel too much influence is placed on identity over issues of class which I feel is problematic.
Actually, some of the recent analysis coming out of 'identity politics' I feel are faulty in some way(s).

I think a balanced approach is needed. We need to realistically and objectively view both class and "identity" and the issues that accompany them and also do actions that relate to both; however, in the end the focus of the left will me predominately on class.

[Yuppie Grinder]

The resentment many male revleft posters feel towards feminism is infantile. Their status as genuine socialists is undeserved. Being for sexual equality is a prerequisite for being a genuine socialist.
We do not want to focus strictly on identity politics, though. The struggles against white supremacy, patriarchy, and heterosexism have been co-opted, lobotomized, and robbed of their revolutionary potential by bourgeois social liberalism. The present task of the revolutionary left is reclaiming these movements for the proletariat.
Historically, focusing on the struggles of oppressed minorities has done wonders for the revolutionary left in America. The IWW was for a long time the only trade union that accepted members of all races and nationalities and because of it their numbers surged. While there is a lot to criticize the Black Panther Party, their golden years where the last time a the US had a popular leftist movement and they built that by struggling against institutional racism.
During the civil rights movement, the CPUSA did not get involved because Moscow told them not to to please southern Democrats and the communist movement suffered for it.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Isn't class a form of indentity politics, or am I mistaken?

But yeah, I agree with otheres in this thread about needing to stress social equality in these areas. Why the fuck should a woman/person of colour/homosexual care about a classless society if they're still going to be treated like they're of lower caste?

[Os Cangaceiros]

Isn't class a form of indentity politics, or am I mistaken?

Identity politics is about the celebration of an identity. (Or at least the belief that an identity is worth preserving in some way)

There is nothing glamorous or worth celebrating about the identity of being a "worker". It is a miserable identity fit only for annihilation.

[Manic Impressive]

Identity politics is about the celebration of an identity. (Or at least the belief that an identity is worth preserving in some way)

There is nothing glamorous or worth celebrating about the identity of being a "worker". It is a miserable identity fit only for annihilation.

I was going to thank your post then I thought that you might be saying that celebrating or preserving an identity is a good thing.....

But I agree entirely with your definition