The first problem identity politics faced was what to do with its critics. Many campaigners began to treat challenges to their opinion as an act of ‘violence.’ Statements were collected around universities, activist movements and newspapers in which it was claimed that the presence – either in person or writing – of those who disputed identity politics made its members feel unsafe. This was a logical consequence of the group identity. If the individual was defined by the group, then it followed that any political attack on the group was an attack on the individual. The two things became
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