Noah Rothman on the "unjustice" of social justice politics

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

I'm Jane Coaston, senior politics reporter at Vox with a focus on conservatism and the GOP.

For the last three years or so, there has been an ongoing discussion among conservatives about identity politics and what many view as the corrosive use of identity politics in the pursuit of "social justice." As they argue, "social justice warriors" are using so-called "identity politics" -- debates around race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity -- as cudgels, often against the Right. In general, to put it mildly, I disagree.

Which is why I invited Noah Rothman, an editor at Commentary magazine, an MSNBC contributor, and more relatedly, author of "Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America," released on January 29th, to join me in a discussion on this very topic. We discussed how identity politics are in no way new, and are inherent to our politics, and we talked about his view on where "social justice" went wrong. The conversation was contentious, but hopefully, productive.

As you may have noticed, I am not Ezra Klein. Ezra is away on paternity leave (congratulations, Ezra!) and will return in a few weeks.

Book recommendations:

The Victims' Revolution by Bruce Bawer

Suicide of the West by Jonah Goldberg

The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt

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