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This article follows a long Twitter discussion initiated by Sandy Starr, relating Kenan Malik’s review  of Eric Kaufmann’s fascinating new book Whiteshift to the debate we had on my book  at the Battle of Ideas in London on 13 th October. 'The real problem, however, is not that the notion of white identity is racist but that it is meaningless.' @kenanmalik responds to @epkaufm 's #Whiteshift in @ObserverUK . Relevant to recent #BattleOfIdeas debate between @bencobley / @cricri42 / @_HelenDale . https://t.co/xs5ND6W3aF — Sandy Starr (@sandystarr0) 21 October 2018 In this thread, Kenan linked to another article of his, entitled ‘Not all Politics is Identity Politics’ a beautifully-written piece in which he presents his critique of identity politics and through which I could see some avenues to explore the differences with mine. Firstly, it’s probably worth explaining where we agree. Kenan is a critic of identity politics, and from the left. As he sa...

This is the text of the speech I gave at the session about my book, ' The Tribe: the liberal-left and the system of diversity ' at the Barbican, London on Saturday 13th October 2018. It differed a little in delivery. Further details of the session and the participants are here . Hello Everyone. Thank you all for coming. Also a special thank you to Jon [Holbrook] and the Academy of Ideas for arranging this session. And another special thank you to Christine [Louis-Dit-Sully], James [Panton] and Helen [Dale] for agreeing to participate and for wading through this book of mine. I hope we can have an interesting and lively discussion about it and the issues it raises. “Questioning Diversity: discussing THE TRIBE” - at #BattleofIdeas - with @bencobley @cricri42 @_HelenDale @jimpanton - packed out!!! pic.twitter.com/NJTAQrEUEY — The Great Debate (@greatdebateuk) 13 October 2018 So, let’s get into it. What is this book all about? I’ve been reflecting on thi...