https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929920919360 Political Studies Review 1–18 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1478929920919360 journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev Rethinking Identity in Political Science Scott Weiner 1 and Dillon Stone Tatum 2 Abstract Political science engages similar types of identity on different terms. There are extensive literatures describing phenomena related to national, ethnic, class, and gender identity; however, these literatures in isolation give us little insight into broader political mechanics of identity itself. Furthermore, many of the theoretical approaches to identity in political science tend to proceed from the macro-level, without conceptualizing its building blocks. How should we conceptualize and operationalize identity in political science? In this article, we examine the existing literature on identity in ethnic politics, nationalism studies, and gender politics to show this disconnect in conceptualizing identity across research agendas. We then provide an integrated model of identity, focusing on how gradations of visibility, conceptualization, and recognition form the basis of claims and conflicts about the politics of identity. We conclude by elucidating a path to overcoming these issues by opening space for a rethinking of identity in political science. Keywords identity, gender, ethnicity, political movements Accepted: 26 March 2020 In 2015, Spokane, Washington NAACP spokesperson Rachel Dolezal ignited a firestorm of controversy when, despite being born to white parents, she claimed to identify as African American. Academics and news commentators took deep offense to this identifi- cation. They accused Dolezal of racial appropriation and engaging in blackface (Capehart, 2015). Dolezal had violated a norm that disapproves of the idea of “transracialism,” (Brubaker, 2016) and drew a strong social sanction as a result. Academic discussions of the controversy were themselves mired in controversy. Rebecca Tuvel (2017), writing in Hypatia, defended the concept of transracialism as akin to transgender identity. The arti- cle created so much backlash for legitimizing the term that it was retracted by the journal with an apology from the editorial board. The retraction itself drew even further contro- versy and allegations of stifling academic discourse (McKenzie, 2017). The Rachel Dolezal and Rebecca Tuvel controversies exemplify how identity— whether ours or someone else’s—has high social and political stakes. 1 The social science 1 Department of Political Science, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA 2 Department of Political Science and Geography, Francis Marion University, Florence, SC, USA Corresponding author: Dillon Stone Tatum, Department of Political Science and Geography, Francis Marion University, PO Box 100547, Florence, SC 29502-0547, USA. Email: dtatum@fmarion.edu 919360PSW 0 0 10.1177/1478929920919360Political Studies ReviewWeiner and Tatum research-article 2020 Article