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Single Idea 23139

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 6. Liberalism / g. Liberalism critique ]

Full Idea

The 'colour-blind' universe of 'neutral' liberalism is actually an attempt to erase cultural identity and history.

Gist of Idea

Liberalism's attempt to be neutral and colour-blind erases cultural identities

Source

Adam Gopnik (A Thousand Small Sanities [2019], 3)

Book Ref

Gopnik,Adam: 'A Thousand Small Sanities' [riverrun 2019], p.166

A Reaction

This is the modern critique of liberalism [centred on the Intersectionality of Bell Hooks or Kimberlé Crenshaw], which analyses alienated minorities, and their emphasis on their difference in response. It can lead to 'identity politics'.

Related Idea

Idea 23138 Modern left-wingers criticise liberalism's control of culture [Gopnik]

The 24 ideas with the same theme [difficulties for liberal theory]:

23272 The human race matters, and individuals have little importance [Hegel]
23372 Liberals want the right to be separate, rather than for people to be united [Marx]
18332 The creation of institutions needs a determination which is necessarily anti-liberal [Nietzsche]
20938 Liberalism's weakness is its powerful rigid bureaucracy [Gramsci]
9277 Rawls's account of justice relies on conventional fairness, avoiding all moral controversy [Gray on Rawls]
22661 My Anarchy, State and Utopia neglected our formal social ties and concerns [Nozick on Nozick]
23080 Liberals debate how conservative or radical to be, but don't question their basics [MacIntyre]
4654 Autonomy favours present opinions over future ones, and says nothing about the interests of potential people [Glover]
4655 If a whole community did not mind death, respect for autonomy suggests that you could kill them all [Glover]
18656 Marxists say liberalism is unjust, because it allows exploitation in the sale of labour [Kymlicka]
23426 Ecologism is often non-liberal, by claiming to know other people's best interests [Dobson]
22803 Can individualist theories justify an obligation to fight in a war? [Avineri/De-Shalit]
23079 Liberal justice ignores desert, which is the essence of justice [Kekes]
23082 Liberal distribution cares more about recipients than donors [Kekes]
23091 Why do liberals not see a much wider range of values as basic? [Kekes]
23112 Liberals ignore contingency, and think people are good and equal, and institutions cause evil [Kekes]
22251 Liberalism may fail because it neglects the shared nature of what we pursue and protect [Haldane]
20553 Liberals mistakenly think individuals choose their values, without reference to the community [Swift]
21115 Liberalism should not make assumptions such as the value of choosing your own life plan [Shorten]
23129 Right-wingers attack liberal faith in reason, left-wingers attack its faith in reform [Gopnik]
23133 Cosmopolitan liberals lack national loyalty, and welcome excessive immigration [Gopnik]
23138 Modern left-wingers criticise liberalism's control of culture [Gopnik]
23139 Liberalism's attempt to be neutral and colour-blind erases cultural identities [Gopnik]
22603 Laissez-faire liberalism failed to give people the protections and freedoms needed for a good life [Dunt]