91: On France's War on Woke with Cole Stangler

With less than three months to the French presidential election, 59 days to the first round to be exact, there are a number of worrying discussions taking place online and in the media that risk distracting from the most pressing issues for French citizens but have taken up considerable airtime. In 2020, that was the controversial idea of islamo-gaucmhisme, or islamo-leftism. Since, the buzzword in heavy rotation trotted out by talking heads and politicians has become wokism, a term that has become completely bastardised and distorted from its original meaning, weaponised in political discourse and used pejoratively to condemn both political correctness and perceived excesses of social and racial justice movements. All across Europe, the anti woke brigade has been in full force and that includes France.

To talk about this term, how we got here, how it has been weaponised, what it means moving forward, particularly as we anticipate election debates, I’m joined by Cole Stangler, a French-American journalist who regularly covers labor and politics.

Mentioned in this episode:

Cole on Twitter

Le Figaro’s use of woke

France's New Culture Warriors (Cole for The Nation) 

France is Becoming More like America. It's Terrible. (Cole for NYT)

France’s Presidential Election Is a One-Sided Culture War (Cole for Jacobin)

Cole's interview with Frédérique Matonti for Jacobin