Fixed Identities, Zero-Sum Games and Oppression Hierarchies: The Impasses of Current Debates About Race and Their Consequences for Contemporary Politics

Abstract This article examines the persistence of common-sense conceptions of race and ethnic identity and the role they play within contemporary politics in the UK. Drawing on the work of Claire Alexander and Rogers Brubaker, the article reflects on why we continue to see ethnic identity as something fixed and static, and why this persists despite theoretical developments which have drawn attention to identity’s fluidity and contingency. Using a conjunctural analysis, the article examines how such conceptions of ethnic identity intersect with two other aspects of the current conjuncture: firstly, neoliberal individualism; and secondly, culture war politics. Consistent with neoliberal individualism, it is assumed that groups compete with each other for recognition and success, mostly within the framework of nation states. Within the divisive politics of culture wars, competition and fixed identities harden into a zero-sum game: greater recognition and rights for one group becomes, by definition, a loss of rights and recognition for another. Solidarity and collectivity become inconceivable, and international politics—particularly international solidarity—becomes unrecognisable within this framework. Ethnic disparity reports are considered, and how these draw attention to how racism is experienced by different groups, but in ways that make it difficult to consider what might be shared. The article then considers two examples from contemporary politics. First of these is a recent controversy surrounding Diane Abbott MP and her claims that racism experienced by those racialised as Black is different from those who can pass for white. Secondly, the article explores reactions to independent candidates in the 2024 election who called for a ceasefire in Gaza. These reactions framed the situation as sectarian politics relating to the ‘Muslim vote’. In both examples, where fixed identities, competitive individualism and zero-sum games are mobilised to narrow the scope of debate, misrepresent people and situations and exclude important political questions from discussion, especially international politics. The article ends by reflecting on the continued appeal of fixed identities, and also what narrow discussions about race can exclude. It calls for a reconsideration of anti-racism to move beyond these impasses and categories.