How can the left win elections when it can’t decide what a woman is? How can antiracists persuade people about equality if they promote racial fictions? If identity politics is the answer, why are so many Western left campaigns and organisations being damaged by it?

As the culture wars rage, this compelling book examines why so much of the Western political left has foundered because of identity politics. Identity issues have deflected many good organisations from their purpose in the world, mired them in unnecessary disputes, and diverted their energies inwards into intractable conflicts. The Western left lost its way: it has ignored real people and their lives, turning away from issues of poverty and alienation that affect many people.  Meanwhile, powerful social movements from the past – black, women’s, gay and lesbian – are reduced to corporate dogmas and slogans.

Attuned to the needs of activists and academics alike, this book offers intelligent explanations for how we got here.  It examines tough disputes, both academic and activist, about antiracism, transgender rights activism, and the work of LGBTQ+ groups in the West. It shows how identities are outcomes of social and institutional forces – and can lead to unreality about the world. It explains how technofinancial corporate capitalism appropriates identities to mould new labour processes for an overworked Western middle class. Clearing a path through the vagaries of identity politics, the book offers arguments the Western left must face amidst formidable right-wing authoritarianism, climate crisis and accelerating inequalities.