Applied Ethics Forum: Katherine Ritchie

‘Labeling unlabeled identities’
Katherine Ritchie (University of California Irvine)
Friday 14 October 2022  •  3:00pm–5:00pm  • LA3–120

Abstract: There is a longstanding debate about the harms and benefits of appealing to identities and using identity labels in social, political, and academic contexts. If it would be better to have a language without identity labels, then we should minimize the use of labels that are already in use and not introduce more. While there are potential harms with both labeling lacunæ and with using labels, I argue that, by considering the interplay of power, the interests and epistemic positions of the powerful and marginalized, and the role self-labeling plays, the introduction and usage of labels for both dominant and marginalized identities can be positive. Identity labels do not in general bring more bad than good.