Eric Kaufmann, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham and head of the Centre for Heterodox Social Science, discusses the origins of 'woke' culture and its ties to liberalism. He sheds light on the cultural transformation sparked by movements like BLM and how they shape global narratives. The conversation navigates race relations, the balance of rights versus religious beliefs, and the implications of immigration policies. Kaufmann emphasizes the complexities of identity politics and advocates for a nuanced dialogue on social justice.
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insights INSIGHT
Source of Speech Restrictions
The emotional harm argument for restricting speech is more influential than systemic racism arguments.
This emotional focus originates from therapeutic liberalism and a focus on psychological safety.
insights INSIGHT
Psychological Harm of Oppression
The historical oppression of marginalized groups like homosexuals, African Americans, and Jews caused psychological harm.
Societal structures and pervasive silence contributed to feelings of shame and guilt.
insights INSIGHT
Unbounded Left Liberalism
Left liberalism's focus on equality and humanitarianism lacks cultural boundaries, leading to overreach.
Its sacred values of diversity, equity, and inclusion can hinder open discussions on important topics like immigration.
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Eric is a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, where he runs the new Centre for Heterodox Social Science. He’s also an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute. His new book is The Third Awokening: A 12-Point Plan for Rolling Back Progressive Extremism (its title in the UK is Taboo: How Making Race Sacred Produced a Cultural Revolution). He also runs a 15-week online course on the origins of wokeness that anyone can sign up for.
For two clips of our convo — why race/gender/sexuality are now considered sacred identities, and whether peak woke is past us — head to our YouTube page. Other topics: born in Hong Kong with a diplomatic dad; raised in Tokyo and Vancouver; living in the UK ever since; how the US spreads its culture wars abroad; the BLM moral panic; “hate speech”; psychotherapy and Carl Rogers; the psychological harm of growing up with homophobia; the gay rights movement; wedding cakes in Colorado; Jon Rauch; Jon Haidt; the taboos of talking immigration or family structure; the Moynihan Report shelved by LBJ; Shelby Steele’s book on white guilt; Coleman Hughes and “intergenerational trauma”; anti-Semitism and the Holocaust; the AIDS crisis; the tradeoffs in trans rights vs. women’s rights; the spurious “mass graves” of indigenous Canadians; the CRA of 1964 dovetailing with the Immigration Act of 1965; Chris Caldwell; Richard Hanania; America’s original sin of slavery; Locke and Hobbes; Douglas Murray’s The War on the West; Churchill; cancel culture; CRT as unfalsifiable; Ibram Kendi; the gender imbalance in various industries; Chris Rufo; how Trump makes wokeness worse; the absence of identity politics in Harris’ convention speech; and being comfortable with being “abnormal”.
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