Greg Lukianoff: : The Canceling of the American Mind. Free Speech and Academia
Dec 27, 2023
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Greg Lukianoff, First Amendment lawyer, discusses the conflation of free speech and harassment in academia and beyond. They explore the origins and impact of cancel culture, the suppression of free speech in academic environments, cancel culture in knowledge-producing industries, the excessive number of administrators in universities, and the tactics used in cancel culture. They also discuss the role of politics in education, parents' perception of Harvard, and alternatives to college education.
Cancel culture has resulted in termination and punishment of professors, affecting more lives than any previous censorship incidents.
Cancel culture is perpetuated both by administrators and students, creating a climate of self-censorship and fear in academia.
Efficient rhetorical fortresses are used by both the left and the right to dismiss opposing viewpoints, limiting productive discussions and engagement with different ideas.
Efforts can be made to address cancel culture by raising resilient children, reforming leadership, and promoting a collective responsibility for robust debate and the exchange of ideas.
Reforming higher education involves promoting critical thinking, teaching about differences, and recognizing alternatives to traditional education.
Deep dives
Definition of Cancel Culture
Cancel culture refers to the uptick in campaigns to punish, fire, de-platform, or expel individuals for speech that would be protected under the First Amendment. It began in 2014, accelerated in 2017, and has created a culture of fear.
The Impact of Cancel Culture
Cancel culture has resulted in the termination or punishment of professors, with approximately 200 firings and 40-plus tenured professors affected since 2014. This is more significant than the McCarthyism era and has had a greater impact on individuals' lives.
Comparison to Previous Censorship Incidents
Cancel culture can be likened to other mass censorship incidents throughout American history, such as the Sedition Act of 1798, Victorian era censorship, and the Red Scare of the McCarthyism era. However, cancel culture has affected a larger number of individuals.
The Insidious Nature of Cancel Culture
Unlike previous censorship incidents that were externally imposed, cancel culture has been perpetuated by both administrators and students, which makes it more insidious. It has created a climate of self-censorship and fear among students and professors.
The internal and external imposition of cancel culture
Cancel culture is both internally and externally imposed, with the external imposition coming from legislative actions and the internal imposition occurring within academia. The threat posed by cancel culture within academia is particularly concerning due to the dominance of left-leaning administrators and professors. However, there is also a threat from the right, although it typically originates off-campus. Examples include cases involving professors fired for their speech, such as Nicole Hannah-Jones at UNC Chapel Hill.
The role of administrators in cancel culture
Administrators in academia often play a crucial role in cancel culture by fostering an environment of fear and capitulation. They may not necessarily agree with the cancellation but prioritize preserving their own positions and avoiding negative press. This lack of spine or calculated decision-making undermines free speech and academic freedom. The fear of backlash from students or donors often leads to administrators disregarding the principles of free expression and instead choosing to appease or capitulate.
Efficient rhetorical fortresses and the need for perspective
Efficient rhetorical fortresses are used by both the left and the right to dismiss or disqualify opposing viewpoints. On the left, the efficient fortress involves labeling individuals as anti-woke, journalists or experts, or anti-Trump. On the right, it focuses on dubbing individuals as liberals, wokesters, journalists, or anti-Trump. These rhetorical tactics limit productive discussions and prevent the engagement with different ideas. However, it is important to note that the prevalence of cancel culture in academia and the legislative actions targeting free speech make the left's cancel culture more concerning.
Raising kids, reforming leadership, and growing up
In addressing cancel culture, efforts can be made in raising children to be resilient and exposing them to diverse perspectives. Parents can encourage unstructured play and ensure children have opportunities for independence. Reforming leadership involves holding administrators accountable, advocating for free speech, and reframing the narrative around cancellation in educational institutions. Ultimately, a collective responsibility is needed to promote an environment that values robust debate and the respectful exchange of ideas, both inside and outside of academia.
The Perfect Rhetorical Fortress and the Dangers of Cancel Culture
One of the main ideas discussed in the podcast episode is the concept of the perfect rhetorical fortress and its connection to cancel culture. The speaker explains that the tactic of labeling someone on the right is an effective way to dismiss their arguments without actually engaging with them. They highlight how this tactic is used to avoid addressing opposing viewpoints and create a divide between different groups of people. Additionally, the speaker discusses the dangers of cancel culture and its impact on free speech and intellectual discussion. They emphasize the need for genuine friendships and alliances based on trust, rather than tactical relationships. The speaker also touches on the importance of leadership in navigating the challenges posed by cancel culture, urging leaders to practice what they preach and stand up against the stifling of differing opinions.
Reforming Higher Education and Avoiding Fallacies of Cancel Culture
Another key point discussed in the podcast episode is the need for reform in higher education and the importance of avoiding fallacies associated with cancel culture. The speaker suggests incorporating epistemic and intellectual humility in education to promote critical thinking and questioning. They also emphasize the value of teaching kids about differences and encouraging them to keep questioning. The speaker mentions the significance of leadership and spine among executives in navigating cancel culture's influence in corporate environments. They suggest hiring practices that promote diversity of thought and avoiding the reliance on university degrees as the sole criterion for employment. Furthermore, the speaker emphasizes the importance of alternatives to traditional education and highlights the need to recognize that college is not the only path to adult learning and success.
Greg Lukianoff is a First Amendment lawyer by training. During his education he began to see how, even among organizations ostensibly created to help protect free speech, how actual free speech was improperly being conflated with harassment or bullying. When he went to work as a legal director of the nascent Foundation for Individual Rights in Education in around 2000, he quickly discovered that in academia, the one place where free speech and open inquiry should be valued above all else, actual free speech was under attack. In the intervening two decades, during which he rose to become director of that Foundation, now renamed to encompass the fact that the attacks on free speech that began in academia have proliferated throughout our society, he has actively worked to fight these attacks. Beyond his legal work, he has become a prolific writer. His 2018 book, co-written with Jonathan Haidt, entitled The Coddling of the American Mind, was influential in encouraging debate and discussion regarding the origins of the victimization mentality that was becoming prevalent in Western Society.
I have been admirer of Greg’s for some time, and have wanted to have a dialogue with him on the podcast. This year, with Rikki Schlott, Greg published The Canelling of the American Mind: How Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions and Threatens us All, and it provided us the ideal opportunity to get together to discuss both his own personal experiences , and also the general concerns we both have about the issues that form the heart of the new book.
What followed was a fascinating conversation about issues we should all care about. Regular readers of Critical Mass and listeners to The Origins Podcast will be aware of some of the examples and concerns we discussed, but I expect will nevertheless be surprised by the ubiquitous infiltration of cancel culture ideas into our society. We actually begin by defining Cancel Culture, a term that has often been misused and misunderstood in the popular media, and then discuss a variety of examples, before closing with a brief discussion of the ways that we can possibly combat it to produce a more tolerant, democratic society, and to save higher education as well. I hope you are provoked, enlightened, and energized by the conversation.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project Youtube channel as well.
