Life is sure heavy sometimes. Keeping interested I guess is part of living carefully. Many of my notions leave a body confused and thus disinterested. It used to be easier to take in the hard stuff. Then, of course, the heavens fell and don't get much choice about it. One of those people who just about pulled through so far. My readings have been the main thing, made some new discoveries, some too new yet to go into, others which aren't exactly exclusive to me. One thing got my attention was a reader reply to an essay on Climate in The Nation. There's this thing called, "Identity Politics." I'll try and explain it to myself and you can listen. Well, let me see...
Identity Politics involves groups that have suffered exclusion from recognition and status for no reasonable explanation. This then leads to self-definition of a supportive and advocating category. The goal is to be affirmative of who the world contains and to struggle against malice towards perfectly nice groups of individuals. My own politics of identity include that I am deaf. All such issues are a focus that bring with it sets of other issues that involve time, narrative and discussion.
So, anyway, this guy online goes like this here, I'll paraphrase his notion. He says that it would be helpful to move Identity Politics into the Climate problem by getting minority groups, like people being abused, to premise their advocacy for their category by first going into and affirming concern for Climate Change. I'll construct an example, as one of the few men who once was a client of Abused Deaf Woman's Advocacy Service (ADWAS).
As an abused deaf individual, I know better than to accept relegating my plight to a stereotype or subordinating it to the concerns of others. The request for such subordination of self-definition defines the condition of an abused deaf person as insignificant and unworthy of time or notice. It is one thing to say that it is not your precinct and another to say it must localize in a hostile, short-handed station among betters. In light of this, however, it is important for those who are deaf and abused to raise our hands (voices) about common cause. We must make time for Climate Change because that is everybody's precinct.
I'm inclined to agree with that man. That's how we should do.
Comments