politics of displacement

Jean Elshtain, Chp.2 "Democracy and the Politics of Displacement" Response to Question 1: In the excerpted chapter titled "Democracy and the Politics of Displacement", Jean Elshtain discusses the concept of ‘politics of identity'. In discussing the ‘politics of identity', Elshtain argues there is an emerging social phenomenon, wherein society is turning the private affairs of our lives into public discourse. The Western World has become a public pool, in which the information mediums and venues of …

…attached to our wrong doings. The proliferation of talk shows such as Jerry Springer, in which it boasts a ‘tell all' theme, exemplifies the loss of shame. It has becoming increasingly more common- place for people to speak out about the private affairs of their lives within a public forum. It has become so popularized to ‘speak out' within the media industry, that people are no longer revealing a sense of shame or even dignity.