- Oct 31, 2012
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It wasn’t long ago when the activist Left had a whole laundry list of systems and impersonal forces that it was battling against: sexism, homophobia, white supremacy, ableism – you name it. The Millenial Left may have nodded along to Bernie Sanders’ old labour-Left leanings. Still, they largely abandoned the class struggle of old for a struggle against boutique oppressions that were contingent but intersecting, hence the rise of so-called “intersectionality.”
That’s the once-trendy academic philosophy that relies on a view of power relations of society, where advantages and disadvantages are filtered primarily through identities: race, gender, and sexual orientation. But intersectionality is old hat. It’s not revolutionary enough anymore now that it’s been mainstreamed and gotten absorbed and institutionalised by the blob of liberal media and corporate institutions – including, believe it or not, the Scottish government.
So, in the wake of the shock of the massive Israel-Hamas war since October 7 and a lack of purpose after the political failures of Left-wing populism – the Western Left has found a way to get its groove back by simplifying yet expanding its moral framework.
Goodbye, intersectionality – hello, “It’s All One Thingism.”
In this nebulous new cosmology, Palestinians – even Hamas themselves – aren’t just engaged in a specific geopolitical fight over territory and resources. No, they’re the tip of the spear of a perceived collective liberation against the West, the Global North, “colonisers,” whatever you want to call the Bad Guys. It’s a magical world in which all politics and world affairs once seen through intersectionality’s colourful prism have been flattened into (somewhat ironically for self-proclaimed atheists) a more Biblical view of the world: black-and-white, good and evil.
“Palestine is every single issue in one issue,” wrote Scarlett Rabe, a singer-songwriter who describes herself as an anti-racist mother and an abolition feminist/womanist, in a viral tweet in February. “It’s reproductive justice. It’s social justice. It’s climate crisis… It’s not just one issue; it’s all the issues in one.”
All One Thingism explains why a group of a few hundred masked protestors who chanted “Death to America” and “Hands off Iran” this week also employed the relatively meaningless slogan “From Chicago to Palestine.” Or that another viral post on Instagram by a person wearing a “Fatties for a Free Palestine” T-shirt insisted that “Palestinian solidarity is not a niche issue. Fat liberation and Palestinian liberation go hand in hand.”
During the Trans Day of Visibility, a Palestine flag flew above the Trans flag during some marches, with one sign explaining that “Liberations are linked.” Some are even talking up BRICS as allies (maybe Putin and Xi aren’t so bad after all?) and – yes – even looking back fondly at the Khmer Rouge.
How did Hamas wind up with the LGTB community?
Anyone?
