The Roots of 'Woke' Culture
Analysis23 Maalis 2020

The Roots of 'Woke' Culture

Barack Obama condemned it. Black American activists championed it. Meghan Markle brought it to the Royal Family. “Wokeness” has become a shorthand for one side of the culture wars, popularising concepts like “white privilege” and “trigger warnings” - and the idea that “language is violence”.

Journalist Helen Lewis is on a mission to uncover the roots of this social phenomenon. On her way she meets three authors who in 2017 hoaxed a series of academic journals with fake papers on dog rape, fat bodybuilding and feminist astrology. They claimed to have exposed the jargon-loving, post-modern absurdity of politically correct university departments - whose theories drive “woke” online political movements.

But is there really a link between the contemporary language of social justice warriors and the continental philosophy of the 1960s and 70s? And are critics of wokeness just reactionaries, left uneasy by a changing world?

Producer Craig Templeton Smith Editor Jasper Corbett

Jaksot(389)

Holland's Challenge to Tolerance

Holland's Challenge to Tolerance

Why is liberal, tolerant Netherlands home to one of Europe's most successful anti-immigration, anti-Islamic parties?Geert Wilders' radical right-wing Party For Freedom (PVV) - which wants to close mos...

13 Maalis 201728min

How do the SNP sell a second referendum?

How do the SNP sell a second referendum?

Could a second referendum on Scottish independence yield a different result? In September 2014 when Scotland voted against becoming an independent country it seemed like the question had been settled ...

6 Maalis 201728min

How Voters Decide: Part Two

How Voters Decide: Part Two

What makes us change our mind when it comes to elections? We are all swingers now. More voters than ever before are switching party from one election to the next. Tribal loyalties are weakening. The e...

27 Helmi 201728min

How Voters Decide: Part One

How Voters Decide: Part One

What does the story of the Downing Street cat reveal about the way voters decide? We are not taught how to vote. We rely on intuition, snap judgments and class prejudice. We vote for policies that cla...

20 Helmi 201728min

Analysis Extra: The Pull of Putin

Analysis Extra: The Pull of Putin

Why do populist politicians across the West want warmer relations with Russia? Are they just Kremlin agents? Or are they tapping into a growing desire to find common cause with Moscow – and end East-W...

16 Helmi 201737min

Is Talent a Thing?

Is Talent a Thing?

When hiring people, is the concept of talent so ill-defined as to be useless? Entrepreneur and author Margaret Heffernan thinks so and explores what characteristics recruiters might want to look for i...

13 Helmi 201728min

How Not to Do It

How Not to Do It

Jacqui Smith, the former Labour home secretary, investigates why government policies fail, focusing on one of her party's most cherished reforms.Indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPPs) we...

6 Helmi 201728min

Atom Man

Atom Man

The journey of an American 'cold warrior' from nuclear deterrence to nuclear disarmament. Former US Secretary of Defence William J Perry has spent his entire seven-decade career on the nuclear brink. ...

30 Tammi 201728min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
viisupodi
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
otetaan-yhdet
rss-asiastudio
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-podme-livebox
linda-maria
the-ulkopolitist
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-tekkipodi
rikosmyytit
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-kuka-mina-olen
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-kyselytunti