Once again both internal Green Party democracy and the basic principles of Green politics and the sustainable common good are under attack from a clique whose goal is to subvert our tradition in favour of ‘identity politics’.
The whole basis of Green politics is that we are all dependants of Planet Earth. That is the overriding identity we share. Each Green Party member is therefore treated equally in that fundamental respect. Our democracy operates on the basis of one member, one vote. No group should therefore be singled out for preferential treatment.
The threat comes in the form of Autumn Conference motion D17. If approved, this motion will allow our seven Special Interest Groups ((SIGs) to propose their own motions to future conferences. The privileging of any SIG carries the risk of strategy, policy development and other critical choices being distorted in favour of grievances from what are in effect just cliques. It exacerbates the divisiveness that now plagues the party.
Green Party SIGs differ in membership numbers, democratic structures and operation. Some sound like little more than tiny echo chambers with a few committed individuals sharing the same opinions. Many female members of the Green Party, for instance, may not have heard of Green Party Women, whatever the excellence of some of that group’s past and current work. The same is likely to apply to members of the other SIGs.
In some SIGs the concept of ‘identity’ and subjective perceptions has overridden objective evidence and reason. Simply belonging to a SIG does not make any comments more important or truthful. The validity of a proposition is measured by its merit, not by the identity of the person proposing it.
Professor Amy Chua’s book ‘Political Tribes’ shows how sectionalist identity-based politics has routinely harmed collective well-being. As a result, and as such groups construct themselves around a perceived and distinguishing grievance, society becomes more divided and fragmented.
Green identinarians can be extremely vocally aggressive resulting in the acquiescence of other members for fear of being denounced as racist or transphobic. This culture of bullying and harassment as evidenced in a number of local parties and regions has, sadly, also been observed at Green Party conferences.
We need a party whose members actively think beyond the narrow confines of any personal group identity:
- In terms of both principle and programme it suggests an overriding focus on the sustainable common good, not the sectional grievances of any particular groups
- In terms of governance it suggests a unitary party, based on one member, one vote
- In terms of strategy it means working together to appeal to a wide range of constituencies and across the political spectrum.
The D17 motion seeks to divide our party further than it already is. It must be firmly rejected. Please alert fellow GP members to its existence and the dangers it poses.
The Green Light 