What Is Identitarianism? Why Do Neoliberals Love It? Why Won’t Wikipedia Define It Fully?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines identitarianism as

An ideology or political agenda which seeks to defend or promote the interests of a particular social, racial, or religious group, nationality, etc. Hence: advocacy of an ideology or a political agenda specific to one’s particular religion, race, nationality, etc.

In Europe, “identitarianism” was associated with white racists because of their focus on racial identity, but white identitarians are only one of many examples. Others include Zionists, black nationalists, feminist separatists, and any group whose members want to separate themselves to some degree from the rest of us on the basis of social identities like race, gender, and religion. Identitarianism is the ideology that gave rise to identity politics. It is the antithesis of universalism, the belief that we all should live together in harmony and equality.

David Harvey described the way neoliberals use identity to divide us in A Brief History of Neoliberalism:

Neoliberal rhetoric, with its foundational emphasis upon individual freedoms, has the power to split off libertarianism, identity politics, multi-culturalism, and eventually narcissistic consumerism from the social forces ranged in pursuit of social justice through the conquest of state power. It has long proved extremely difficult within the US left, for example, to forge the collective discipline required for political action to achieve social justice without offending the desire of political actors for individual freedom and for full recognition and expression of particular identities. Neoliberalism did not create these distinctions, but it could easily exploit, if not foment, them.

I am generally a fan of Wikipedia, but if you look there for a definition of identitarianism, you’ll only find an article about the white identitarians of Europe. I tried to update it a few years ago, but it was reverted and I did not have the desire to get into a wiki war. Perhaps I’ll try again. Until someone does, trust the Oxford English Dictionary on this one.