The Identity Trap

A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time

By: Yascha Mounk

Narrated by: JD Jackson

“The most comprehensive and reasonable story of this shift that has yet been attempted . . . Mounk has told the story of the Great Awokening better than any other writer who has attempted to make sense of it.”—The Washington Post

"An intellectual tour de force about the origins of identity politics and the threat it presents to genuine, honest, old-fashioned liberalism.”—Bret Stephens, The New York Times

“Among the most insightful and important books written in the last decade on American democracy and its current torments, because it also shows us a way out of the trap.”—Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind, and coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind

"Outstanding."—David Brooks, The New York Times

One of our leading public intellectuals traces the origin of a set of ideas about identity and social justice that is rapidly transforming America—and explains why it will fail to accomplish its noble goals.

For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.

But over the past decades, a healthy appreciation for the culture and heritage of minority groups has transformed into a counterproductive obsession with group identity in all its forms. A new ideology aiming to place each person’s matrix of identities at the center of social, cultural, and political life has quickly become highly influential. It stifles discourse, vilifies mutual influence as cultural appropriation, denies that members of different groups can truly understand one another, and insists that the way governments treat their citizens should depend on the color of their skin.

This, Yascha Mounk argues, is the identity trap. Though those who battle for these ideas are full of good intentions, they will ultimately make it harder to achieve progress toward the genuine equality we desperately need. Mounk has built his acclaimed scholarly career on being one of the first to warn of the risks right-wing populists pose to American democracy. But, he shows, those on the left and center who are stuck in the identity trap are now inadvertent allies to the MAGA movement.

In The Identity Trap, Mounk provides the most ambitious and comprehensive account to date of the origins, consequences, and limitations of so-called “wokeness.” He is the first to show how postmodernism, postcolonialism, and critical race theory forged the “identity synthesis” that conquered many college campuses by 2010. He lays out how a relatively marginal set of ideas came to gain tremendous influence in business, media, and government by 2020. He makes a nuanced philosophical case for why the application of these ideas to areas from education to public policy is proving to be so deeply counterproductive—and why universal, humanist values can best serve the vital goal of true equality. In explaining the huge political and cultural transformations of the past decade, The Identity Trap provides truth and clarity where they are needed most.

©2023 Yascha Mounk (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist, Financial Times, Inc., Prospect Magazine, and The Conversation

“America’s academic, cultural, and political institutions went insane beginning around 2014, and I’ve been trying to figure out why ever since. In The Identity Trap, Yascha Mounk explains how a few powerfully bad ideas, propelled through institutions by people with good intentions, are causing systemic dysfunction and dangerous polarization. This is among the most insightful and important books written in the last decade on American democracy and its current torments, because it also shows us a way out of the trap.”—Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind, and coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind

“Illiberalism seems to be flourishing on both the left and the right . . . At such a moment, it is prudent to be open to new alliances with anyone, on the right or left, who genuinely values freedom and democracy. The Atlantic’s Yascha Mounk clearly qualifies under that description, as he proves in his latest book, The Identity Trap. It’s the kind of work that might lead thoughtful conservatives to reflect on the potential rewards of a cross-spectrum ‘liberal alliance.’”—National Review

“A fascinating account of the intellectual origins of identity politics. Mounk . . . a historian of ideas . . . gives a careful account of the work of thinkers such as Derrick Bell, Michel Foucault and Kimberlé Crenshaw, revealing the theory that underpins influential ideas such as critical race theory and intersectionality.”—Financial Times Best Books of the Year

Takes opposing arguments seriously

Mounk’s great strength as a polemicist is that he does not attribute bad moves to his opponents, Hseeks to understand their views and respond in a principled way. The book is philosophical rather than empirical, but focus on ideas rather than data is refreshing to me. It looks like intellectual leadership, always a commodity in short supply.

Essential reading

Mounk manages to cut through so many layers of bad thinking and lay out a compelling take on modern ideological and political debates.

Fantastic and worth a listen

This was an intelligent and well written book about an important topic. I read a lot of books about political movements and this one was S tier.

Excellent, thoughtful, well written!

Nails it spot on! Very conceptually robust and comprehensive philosophy. Should be read with Cynical Theories and Irreversible Damage.

Thank you to the author for being brave and intelligent enough to write this book!

Fascinating look into the world today…

…and why it has seemed like many of my politically progressive friends and networks, have seemed to become increasingly intolerant of views other than their own. For a progressive person like myself, this has been disorienting. This book is a great deep dive into that arc

cathartic. essential. wonderfully read

I loved this audio book. Stellar analysis of what happened over the last few decades and how good intentions can lead to harm. Excellent reading by the voice actor JD as well. I recommend this to everyone

A clear answer from a self-described liberal to the dangers of identity politics

This book is a clear answer from a self-described liberal to the dangers of identity politics. There are areas of disagreement, and a failure to identify the source of liberal values (Christianity). Nevertheless, this book is long overdue!

An excellent primer on the identity delusion

This book provides a great synthesis of what's wrong with both mostly the left, but which also applies to the right. The idea of immutable social categories that everyone must conform too, which are also somehow socially constructed, is a mental virus that has spread both through academic and mainstream institutions. This attack on universalism and cosmopolitanism is driving our societies apart.

We need to acknowledge that we all belong to a single human group, like Carl Sagan beautifully wrote in The Pale Blue Dot. As a hispanic I don't care if others appropriate the positive aspects of my culture. I loathe the use by woke whites of the term Latinx. They pretend to be speaking in our behalf, but we hispanics never use such a term. Stop trying to help people who haven't asked for your help. Stop cancelling people simply because they dare think differently. Let's embrace our differences and move past the invisible barriers that are tearing at the seams of our current societies.

A balanced view by left of center author

Very knowledgeable author. I prefer to hear people that are left of center dissect society’s trend of going crazy with identity.

Clarity in dealing with the major threat to our society

Best book I read in a long time . Hits the problems and real dangers on target