Collective Identity, Oppression, and the Right to Self-Ascription argues that groups have an irreducibly collective right to determine the meaning of their shared group identity, and that such a right is especially important for historically oppressed groups. The author specifies this right by way of a modified discourse ethic, demonstrating that it can provide the foundation for a conception of identity politics that avoids many of its usual pitfalls. The focus throughout is on racial identity, which provides a test case for the theory. That is, it investigates what it would mean for racial identities to be self-ascribed rather than imposed, establishing the possible role racial identity might play in a just society. The book thus makes a unique contribution to both the field of critical theory, which has been woefully silent on issues of race, and to race theory, which often either presumes that a just society would be a raceless society, or focuses primarily on understanding existing racial inequalities, in the manner typical of so-called “non-ideal theory.”

"Pierce's approach is highly original, as far as I am aware. This book is worthy reading for anyone interested in issues of group rights, oppression, and identity politics." - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"This first book by Pierce (Loyola Univ., Chicago) is a tremendous success. In four chapters, the author lays waste to the dogmatic rejection of identity politics and the current liberal account of oppressed groups in democratic societies. Chapter 1 is a critique of multicultural liberals, primarily Will Kymlicka's focus on group identity as cultural. Chapter 2 offers a fantastic discussion of why oppressed groups' self-ascription is intrinsically valuable. Chapter 3 provides a refreshing argument for the necessity of identity politics. By differentiating between ‘retributive’ and ‘discursive-democratic’ identity politics, Pierce carefully shows how identity politics is necessary to real challenges to systemic oppression. This position carries readers to the theme of the final chapter, namely, that ‘the strategic struggle against oppression as well as the ideally functioning processes of democratic politics both presuppose and require certain kinds of collective identity ... and racial identity in specific.’ This, however, does not let white conservatives off the hook, since ‘whiteness is not discursively justifiable, illegitimate ... and lacks any substantive foundation.’ This book will be a heartbreaking discovery for multicultural liberals, but a well-written contribution to conversations by audiences familiar with the contested debates of the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above." - CHOICE