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)

Unsure about Sure Start

Unsure about Sure Start

Sure Start was one of the flagship policies of the Labour years, and the Coalition Government has just underlined its commitment to keeping it going. But in this edition of Analysis Fran Abrams asks a...

11 Jul 201127min

The SNP and Scotland

The SNP and Scotland

No university tuition fees, free personal care for the elderly, reduced prescription charges. In all sorts of ways, Scotland seems to have kept a level of public service the rest of the UK is denied. ...

4 Jul 201128min

Is America Doomed?

Is America Doomed?

Justin Webb, the BBC's former North America Editor, regards the United States with affection and respect. But he is worried that America is in denial about the extent of its financial problems and the...

28 Jun 201128min

Hague's Middle East

Hague's Middle East

"The eruption of democracy movements across the Middle East and North Africa is, even in its early stages, the most important development of the early 21st century." These were the words of Foreign Se...

20 Jun 201128min

Egypt's New Islamists

Egypt's New Islamists

Edward Stourton asks if the Egyptian revolution spells the end of old-style Islamism. As groups like the Muslim Brotherhood embrace democracy, how will they - and Egypt - change? The overthrow of Hosn...

13 Jun 201128min

Goodbye the Golden Eggs of Banking?

Goodbye the Golden Eggs of Banking?

Time was when the City of London and the financial services industry generally were the apple of most politicians' eyes. The fabulous wealth they generated and taxes they paid seemed to set Britain on...

6 Jun 201128min

Unhealthy Expectations?

Unhealthy Expectations?

Is our NHS debate avoiding the key issue? The talk is of another reorganisation of the NHS and greater efficiencies enabling the NHS in England to face the future. But the overall challenge goes much ...

30 Mai 201127min

Blue Labour

Blue Labour

Labour's traditional working class supporters are abandoning the party in their droves. But can Labour win them back without alienating the middle-class voters it needs to win the next election? David...

21 Mar 201128min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

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