Contra la manía identitaria. Una defensa de la ciudadanía liberal

This article examines how liberal democracies should respond to the diversity of contemporary plural societies. It critiques the common and influential response of resorting to identity politics and differentiated citizenship, which sanction different rights, freedoms and duties according to people’s identity and belonging. It sustains that this response is based on flawed theories and has negative social consequences. The article critically examines various theoretical proposals and their practical implications: egalitarian arguments, autonomy arguments, recognition arguments, conventional constitutional proposals and cultural revolutions. The analysis reveals that identity politics and differentiated citizenships can undermine citizen equality by creating privileges based on origin, limiting the freedom and autonomy of group members, relying on reductionist views of human beings, promoting conservative and reactionary policies, generating social conflicts, endorsing unacceptable practices, and seeking totalitarian control over people and society through engineering mechanisms. In liberal democracies, social integration must occur through egalitarian citizenship that establishes and guarantees the same rights, freedoms, and duties for all citizens, regardless of their origin. This is an emancipatory response that allows people to pursue whatever ends they deem valuable, whether they are cultural, religious, or idiosyncratic, disassociating what each individual can achieve from their origin.