Kierkegaard's den Enkelte in an Era of "Identity Politics"

Dear Colleagues,

The overarching purpose of this issue is to put Kierkegaard’s thought in conversation with one of the most fiercely debated topics in contemporary political discourse—namely, “identity politics.” This is not an intuitive pairing. For instance, in an 1851 journal entry, Kierkegaard stated that “my category is the single individual (den Enkelte),” and, with this in mind, he adopted a standpoint of “armed neutrality” (bevæbnede Neutralitet) in relation to the socio-political factions of his era. In other words, Kierkegaard understood the basis of societal progress to lie in the individual’s passionate commitment to certain ideals—many of which are rooted in Christianity—rather than in an association with a secular political group or party. In contrast, late-twentieth and early twenty-first century political thinking increasingly centers on assertions of “identity,” that is, on ways of categorizing oneself as a member of a particular subgroup, especially one that perceives a shared experience of social injustice. Whether or not “identity politics” is compatible with a number of longstanding features of Western culture, from Judeo-Christian teachings to classical liberalism, remains an open question. But there is no doubt that the topic demands scholarly reflection.

As noted, the task of this volume is to stimulate further thinking in this area, using Kierkegaard as the primary interlocutor. How, or to what extent, can the Dane help us think through the question of “identity politics”? Scholars have begun to address this question, albeit mostly in indirect fashion. In his 2011 book Kierkegaard’s Critique of Christian Nationalism, Stephen Backhouse argues that Kierkegaard’s thought can be marshalled against attempts to use Christian faith or ecclesiastical membership as a basis for a shared political bloc. Likewise, in various articles and podcasts, Jacob Howland has portrayed Kierkegaard as a prophetic critic of “democratic leveling,” that is to say, of the attempt, particularly via mass media, to reduce all persons to a kind of coextensive common denominator. Finally, in his new book Kierkegaard: Existence and Identity in a Post-Secular World (2020), Alastair Hannay states that Kierkegaard’s “project differs radically…from today’s ‘identity politics,’” insofar as, for Kierkegaard, “it is the differences that matter for personal identity.” Though distinct in tone and in purpose, these interpretations coalesce around a number of themes—perhaps above all, Kierkegaard’s theological insistence on the primacy of den Enkelte and, in turn, on how the task of each individual is to promote (in Hannay’s phrase) “true association” by virtue of self-development.

But are these readings too quick to dismiss a constructive Kierkegaardian evaluation of “identity politics”? Or do their cases need to be presented with greater clarity and focus? If, as some (but certainly not all) theorists believe, “identity politics” represents an exacerbation or even a distortion of the liberal principles of equality and freedom, does that mean that Kierkegaard—a consistent critic of the liberal bourgeoisie and a late champion of the “common man”—stands as a friend or an enemy to this recent political trajectory? And, finally, how might Kierkegaard’s Christian faith bear on these issues? For example, can a figure who so adamantly pressed the spiritual motif of imitatio Christi be allied with the politicization of collective identity? Whatever the case, the time has come for an intensive treatment of this issue, which not only demands the reconsideration of a number of core Kierkegaardian concepts, from “the single individual” to notions of “freedom” and “identity,” but promises to situate Kierkegaard amidst some of the most crucial debates of contemporary society.

Dr. Christopher B. Barnett
Guest Editor

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• Kierkegaard
• the single individual
• identity politics
• liberalism
• freedom
• Christianity
• imitatio Christi