Cancel culture may seem to be waning, but an ideology that has already punished more academics than McCarthyism is only likely to increase its power as millennials and Gen Z rise through Britain’s elite institutions, writes Prof Eric Kaufmann in the Times.
“Some observers regard woke as a passing fad,” he continues. “They point to American tech firms pruning their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) budgets, to the Cass Review’s indictment of transgender-affirming surgery and to declining media mentions of woke phrases such as ‘white privilege’. As a result, many conservatives and free-speech liberals think the tide is turning. They optimistically believe that we have passed ‘peak woke’ and that the days of this new McCarthyism are numbered.
“To which I say: not so fast. I have studied the cultural left academically for 30 years. My view is that it has deep roots and is hitting a peak of influence after rising consistently for more than a century. In my new book Taboo: How Making Race Sacred Produced a Cultural Revolution, I define woke as the holy status accorded to historically marginalised race, gender and sexual identity groups.
“The emergence of a norm against racism in mid-1960s America represented progress but, lacking boundaries, it swiftly became a taboo and a sacred symbol. Instead of a proportionate penalty, it was a sudden-death tripwire. Being accused of racism renders you radioactive.
“The power of this sacred symbol led other identity groups to borrow its magic, widening the taboo to include sexism, homophobia and, most recently, transphobia. Outrage entrepreneurs, as Harvard University’s Cass Sunstein calls them, wielded this force to scare political opponents from the field.
“The rise of the race taboo is the Big Bang of our moral universe, the centre of our moral order. It has stretched to new frontiers of microscopic and confected emotional grievance. Along the way it has eroded freedom, truth and excellence while vandalising cherished national identities and undermining social cohesion.
“While there is no question that the energy behind cancel culture has peaked, my view is that, far from disappearing, the underlying ideology is likely to maintain or increase its power in the years ahead. Its wings have been clipped but the core myths and symbols from which it springs remain intact. Young people, especially young women, are much less tolerant of speech that offends historically disadvantaged race, gender and sexual identity groups than older generations.
“This is especially true of Gen Z (Zoomers) and millennials educated at the best universities. As they become the median employees in elite institutions and attain positions of power, they are likely to upend Britain’s mainstream classical liberal and patriotic creed. The senior liberals who are behind the modest anti-woke correction in the mainstream media will have left the scene as part of the inevitable generational turnover of institutional leadership.
“Young people are the future and a majority prioritise woke sensitivity over truth and freedom. If we care about our civilisation, we need to focus political attention on reforming the ethos of our schools. Elected government is the only institution the non-woke majority can hope to control. Executive power must therefore be used to reform the public sector, extending to quangos, schools and universities, replacing a woke ethos based on DEI with one that is politically neutral. Elected politicians are democratically scrutinised by the media and voters but public bodies take decisions behind closed doors.”
Worth reading in full.
To celebrate the publication of Prof Kauffman’s latest book, TABOO: How Making Race Sacred Created a Cultural Revolution, he will be delivering a guest lecture at our next live event, on Wednesday 26th June. Professor Kaufmann will open with a short lecture, followed by a response from Thomas Harris, the FSU’s Director of Data and Impact and author of the report, The EDI Tax: How Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are Hobbling British Businesses.
FSU members can purchase discounted in-person tickets for the event in Central London or join online, free of charge, by following the links including in the most recent weekly newsletter. In-person tickets are available to the general public here.
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