The Perils of Identity (Paperback)

Caroline Dick

ISBN 10: 0774820632 / ISBN 13: 9780774820639

Published by University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 2012

About this Item

Paperback. Calls for the provision of group rights are a common part of politics in Canada. Many liberal theorists consider identity claims a necessary condition of equality, but do these claims do more harm than good?To answer this question, Caroline Dick engages in a critical analysis of liberal identity-driven theories and their application in cases such as Sawridge Band v. Canada, which sets a First Nation's right to self-determination against indigenous women's right to equality. She contrasts Charles Taylor's theory of identity recognition, Will Kymlicka's cultural theory of minority rights, and Avigail Eisenberg's theory of identity-related interests with an alternative rights framework that account for both group and in-group differences. Dick concludes that the problem is not the concept of identity itself but the way in which prevailing conceptions of identity and group rights obscure intragroup differences. Instead, she proposes a politics of intragroup difference that has the power to transform rights discourse in Canada. Caroline Dick asks how group identity claims, especially in the courts, obscure significant intragroup differences. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780774820639

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Perils of Identity (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774820632
• ISBN 13: 9780774820639
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Many liberal theorists consider group identity claims a necessary condition of equality in Canada, but do these claims do more harm than good? To answer this question, Caroline Dick examines the identity-driven theories of Charles Taylor, Will Kymlicka, and Avigail Eisenberg in the context of Sawridge Band v. Canada, a case that sets a First Nation’s right to self-determination against Indigenous women’s right to equality. The concept of identity itself is not the problem, Dick argues, but rather the way in which prevailing conceptions of identity and group rights obscure intragroup differences. Her proposal for a new politics of intragroup difference has the power to transform rights discourse in Canada.

About the Author

Caroline Dick is an assistant professor in theDepartment of Political Science at the University of WesternOntario.