One of the discussions that took place at the 3rd conference of Internationalist Standpoint (March 30 to April 3) was on Identity Politics (IP). This is a very important discussion particularly as IP infiltrate all colorations of the Left and present a very radical face whereas they are only a form of present-day reformism.
The discussion was based on three different texts, produced by comrades Eleni Mitsou, Ciaran Mullholland and Lucy Simpson, each supplementary to the other.
After the publication of “Identity Politics and its role in the crisis of the Left”, and the article on “Post colonialism and identity politics“, the article published today is “Identity Politics and the Far Right”, written by Lucy Simpson.
Identity Politics and the Far Right
The article published on the ISp website by Eleni Mitsou on May 6th 2025 on Identity Politics clearly explains the problems and limitations of IP for the Left internationally. It is also important to understand why IP becomes popular at certain times in different societies/countries. One is when the labour/workers movement is in decline. Of course there are many other important factors including general uncertainty, economically, politically and socially. We are now facing all of those factors across the globe. The election of Trump has reinforced these very uncertain times. The news is now dominated by what is going on in the White House and every tweet Trump puts out. It all adds to the confusion and uncertainty and as a consequence millions of people seek comfort in familiarity and scapegoating.
As we have witnessed the far right can make gains in this period. They exploit the confusion of the masses by using IP from a far-right perspective whipping up anti-immigrant, racist, sexist, anti-gay and transphobia sentiments. We have seen throughout Europe acts of violence including murders, with people being burned out of their homes and small businesses as was the case in Ireland last year in the riots against immigrants North and South.
Many people assume IP is the property and the problem of the left and left reformist organisations. This is not the case. The far-right use IP in a very cynical way to divide and split the working class in particular. For example in Ireland they are using slogans such as “Ireland is full”, “Ireland belongs to the Irish” and ” Irish lives matter”. The far right are a tiny force in Ireland but these are examples of their manipulation and at certain times they have the ability to cause widespread public disorder (as in in the Dublin riots in December 2023 and the Belfast riots of summer 2024 -the two main cities on the island).
The recent elections in Germany saw the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AFD) make significant gains doubling its vote from 10.4% in 2021 to 20.8%. It is now the second largest party taking 152 seats after the conservatives 208 seats. The incumbent Social Democrats won 120 and the left party took 64 seats. The AFD became the first far right party to win a state election in Germany since the Nazis.
Alice Weidel, the leader of the AFD, is a gay woman in a relationship with her Sri Lankan born partner. She robustly and staunchly opposes immigration and gay marriage, and the contradiction of her personal and political life requires a leap of imagination. She claims the biggest threat to the LGBT+ community is immigration and Islam, that her role in the party is “not despite her homosexuality but because of it”. This is a classic AFD tactic, using any excuse to vilify Muslims and refugees, in this case siding with groups they have previously attacked in the past.
Generally, far right politics/parties are male dominated. In this case, the AFD is led by a gay female and many other right-wing organisations have put forward female leaders in a conscious attempt to develop a a “softer profile” for a reactionary movement. Giorgia Meloni, the first female PM of Italy, and Marie Le Pen, the former president of Frances National Rally, are examples of this.
Weidel is a very wealthy gay woman she has no empathy whatsoever for other oppressed groups. It is notable that one of the first gay politicians in history was Ernst Rohm, a close friend of Hitler and chief of the SA during 1931-1934.
Ash Sarkar, a British journalist, recently published an interview in the Sunday Times with a young British musician Sam Fender. The topic was “How the left keeps getting ID wrong and the right is benefiting from that”.
Fender makes some interesting points. He argues it’s not just white working-class boys from the North of England who are drawn to right-wing influencers such as Andrew Tate but kids of colour in inner city London as well.
According to Fender, we are witnessing the rise of a kind of ID politics that sidelines class, and the far right are benefitting from it. We know the working class is not homogenous, it encompasses many ethnic and gender minorities. As Fender correctly states, “IP has somehow been peeled off as a separate concern”. The far right is taking advantage of an IP of their own, using anger about lack of housing, education, and public services in general for white working class people, and it gets an echo. This can develop into outright racism very quickly, but this is much less likely to happen when there is a class-based movement -for example a trade union campaign on workers’ rights, pay and conditions- where people are organised, united and focused on victory rather than through the prism of a minority group or through the distortion of social media.
Membership of political parties and trade unions have been in decline in Britain for decades and we are paying the price. Social media is for many the main way to engage in politics. The far right and governments can escape being accountable, and the masses are left with a confused consciousness which provides opportunities for the far right.
It is important and correct for the left to be sensitive to all oppressed groups and to patiently convince them of the need for a united movement against all oppression which means ultimately ending capitalism. The left can also reach young people who are attracted by the ideas of the right and who are confused and influenced through social media by conscious bigots, misogynists and racists.
The point though that needs to be reiterated is by having a sensitive approach and a patient approach we can win the best workers and youth to build a united movement with room and space for all oppressed groups to fight together for a better world.
