The Roots of 'Woke' Culture
Analysis23 Mar 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

Episoder(389)

The Forgotten Half

The Forgotten Half

More and more young people now go to university. But what's on offer for those who don't? Public and political attention is far more focused on the university route. Paul Johnson discovers why other ...

8 Jul 201928min

Understanding the risks of terrorism

Understanding the risks of terrorism

How do the authorities, business and the public perceive and respond to the risk of violent terrorism? With unprecedented access to the work of an active MI5 officer, home affairs correspondent Domini...

1 Jul 201928min

Can computer profiles cut crime?

Can computer profiles cut crime?

David Edmonds examines how algorithms are used in our criminal justice system, from predicting future crime to helping decide who does and doesn’t go to prison. While police forces hope computer softw...

24 Jun 201928min

Green technology and early adoption

Green technology and early adoption

Climate change has shot up the current political agenda in part due to the Extinction Rebellion protests. An urgent question now facing UK policymakers is whether they should accelerate the adoption o...

17 Jun 201929min

The Real Gender Pay Gap

The Real Gender Pay Gap

Women are paid less than men and do more unpaid work. The gender pay gap doubles after women become mothers. Female-dominated professions tend to be lower-paid than male-dominated ones. What's going o...

10 Jun 201928min

Maintenance

Maintenance

Maintenance is an unfashionable word. But as Chris Bowlby discovers, keeping our infrastructure in good condition is one of the most crucial and creative challenges we face. Key assets such as concret...

3 Jun 201929min

Love Island, dating apps and the politics of desire

Love Island, dating apps and the politics of desire

For centuries we have met our other halves through family, friends, work, or religious institutions. But they have all now been outstripped: meeting online is now the most common way to meet. Not long...

27 Mai 201928min

Will China and America go to war?

Will China and America go to war?

Will the growing competition between China and the United States inevitably lead to military conflict? One leading American academic created huge attention when in 2017 he posed the idea of what he ca...

25 Mar 201928min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
fotballpodden-2
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
bt-dokumentar-2
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
nokon-ma-ga
rss-ness
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5
chit-chat-med-helle