7. YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME? - Re-evaluating Representation & Identity Politics

“If each of our experiences of the world are isolated within a personal island of subjective qualia, then no two people can know for sure whether they experience the world in the same way. What this means for identity politics, is that the underlying notion that Muslims can talk about Islamophobia, the LGBT community about homophobia, non-white ethnic groups about racism, and women about sexism (etc.) with an authority that is lacking from a “non-member” of each group falls apart.  Every woman will experience living as a woman in a patriarchal world uniquely; every person who has been discriminated against because of their race, sexuality or religion has felt that hurt without peer.”

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6. IDENTITY CRISIS - On Immigration and Belonging

“It is only in the last few years that I began to realise how much I had been affected by being the child of an immigrant.  Growing up, because my skin was white, the idea that I was a second-generation immigrant didn’t even cross my mind, although the fact of my status acted constantly in the shadows without my recognition, and I remained completely aware of my non-British heritage even in my ignorance of living its consequences. “

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