How did postmodernism influence identity politics in the 1980s and 1990s?

During the 1980s and 1990s, postmodernism became the unofficial philosophy of identity politics by providing a theoretical framework to challenge established Enlightenment discourses. Postmodernists argued that reality, knowledge, and values are not objective but are constructed by discourses that often reflect the interests of dominant or elite groups. Consequently, academic advocates for various ethnic, racial, cultural, and religious groups utilized these critiques to argue that such discourses were arbitrary and should be changed to be more inclusive of nonelite perspectives.1

In the realm of gender and sexuality, postmodern thought—particularly through deconstruction—critiqued essentialist notions of identity. A pivotal influence was the work of Judith Butler, whose theory of gender performativity challenged the idea that identity is an innate essence. By arguing that identity is a product of repeated actions rather than a source of them, Butler’s work helped found queer theory. This perspective encouraged the subversive destabilization of categories like "women," suggesting that such constructs could be exposed as artificial through performative acts, thereby shifting the focus of political activism toward challenging the mechanisms of social normalization.23