Identity (in) Crisis: Exploring Identities in the Context of the Politics of Exception, Insecurity, and Emergency

Crises have become an integral part of the political and societal reality. The Covid-19 pandemic constitutes yet another in a series of recent emergencies challenging democratic politics. In their numerous variations, identity and identity politics are often found at the centre of the response to such unanticipated shocks. Identity and crises can become intertwined in several ways. On the one hand, we observe how identities become strengthened and more exclusive in crises. This process can become particularly pronounced with regard to the nation-state as the principal container of collective identification. For some segments of societies and political groups, crises can be viewed as new opportunity structures and trigger sharp responses in the shape of renewed relevance of specific identities, the redrawing of collective boundaries, or the political mobilization of exclusive identities at different levels. Against this backdrop, nationalist backlash and democratic backsliding constitute an example of the central role national identities play in emergency politics. On the other hand, crises may open up new opportunities and spaces for the creation of transnational, universal, or cosmopolitan attachments. This might be particularly true when the nation-state is perceived as having limited efficacy in dealing with crises of various kinds. In this context, transnational or global solutions might become more appealing, opening new spaces of solidarity and potential shifts in existing loyalties. At the same time, some worry that the crises may bring global interdependence and transnational governance to a halt, as governments increasingly revert to politics of exception, insecurity and emergency. As such a complex relationship between crises and the re-configuration of identities has become increasingly politically salient across the globe, it merits scholarly attention. The section aims at shedding light on the complex and multifaceted relationship between identities and crises. The section is interested both in the impact of crises on various identity processes and how identity politics are formulated and implemented in response to crises. Therefore, the section focuses on ongoing reformulations of identity occurring against the background of the phenomena labelled as ‘crisis’, ‘state of emergency, ‘exception’ and ‘risk’. In particular, the section is interested in how these phenomena affect the historically established identities in political and social domains or motivate the deployment of their new or renewed formulations. As crises are often associated with shifting political and social boundaries, the section stresses processes of redefinition and reinforcement of collective identities that have become subject of activities by nation-states, societies and subnational groups as responses to crises. The section panels will highlight, for instance, identity politics as responses to crises in terms of renewal and reaffirmation of established political and social boundaries. In addition, panels will explore the dynamics of construction and reproduction of new political and social identities under conditions of perceived and real crises. Based on the scholarly network of the ECPR Standing Group ‘Identity’, the section will focus on the relationship between identity and crisis in several main areas: • Impact of crises on identities • Crisis as a resource for identity politics • Global and national identity politics in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic • Identity in the context of emergency politics and democratic crises • Migration, identity and the ‘politics of insecurity’ • Framing and reframing of collective identities in the context of crises • Global crises and the transnational mobilization of identity • Crises of EU integration and European identity • Populist mobilization of identities in the context of crisis • Identity and nationalist backlash • The crisis of the public sphere: social media, polarization and identity • Re-framing of partisan identities during crises • The climate crisis and environmental identities • Crises and minority identities The section aims to bring together scholars within interdisciplinary panels that could offer new insights and fresh ideas based on empirical and theoretically grounded research. Based on previous experience, we expect to offer six panels within the section.