Identity politics is a political approach that focuses on the interests and perspectives of groups with shared identities, such as race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, caste, and social class. It aims to rectify injustices suffered by group members because of differences or conflicts between their particular identity and the dominant identity of a larger society. The term "identity politics" is used to describe a wide range of political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups.

Here are some key points about identity politics:

• It is a mode of organizing and set of political philosophical positions that has undergone numerous attacks since its 1970s origins.
• It is a loose collection of political projects, each undertaken by representatives of a collective with a distinctively different social location that has hitherto been neglected, erased, or suppressed.
• It is used "as a tool to frame political claims, promote political ideologies, or stimulate and orient social and political action, usually in a larger context of inequality or injustice and with the aim of asserting group distinctiveness and belonging and gaining power and recognition".
• It aims to reclaim greater self-determination and political freedom for marginalized peoples through understanding particular paradigms and lifestyle factors, and challenging externally-imposed characterizations and limitations, instead of organizing solely around status quo belief-systems or traditional party-affiliations.
• It is closely related to multiculturalism, or the general view that cultural minority groups deserve respectful acknowledgment of their distinctive belief systems, values, and ways of life.
• It developed in the 1980s and 90s as a reaction to the perceived failure of liberal civil rights legislation to eliminate identity-based inequities and injustices, such as racial and sexual discrimination.

Critics of identity politics argue that it can lead to a narrow focus on group identity at the expense of broader social and economic issues. They also see it as a version of bourgeois nationalism, i.e. as a form of nationalism that serves the interests of the ruling class. However, proponents argue that identity politics is necessary to address the unique experiences and challenges faced by marginalized groups.