Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.
[Robert Frost, Excerpt of Mending Wall]'
'Pretty soon everyone will have to admit that they are sitting around in the dark and pretending they see daylight.' It's a phrase I'll unscrupulously borrow from a recent
article by
Stephen Walt. In a way it perfectly describes my own sentiments on the issue of identity politics that has commanded so much attention in recent years. It seems as though the question of who we are, has been replaced or at least been answered by who are we not? And while understanding the other may help to grasp and better understand the boundaries of one’s own identity, it should and cannot provide a solid basis for self definition. Arguably, identity is a multileveled, contested and fluid concept. [tbc...this is gonna be a longer one, but will need more time to organize my thoughts]
