RE: What's wrong with Woke
January 21, 2022 at 8:39 pm
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2022 at 8:51 pm by vulcanlogician.)
I tend to like wokeism concerning its constituent theories, the activism it inspires, and the changes it wants to see in the world.
But I do have some criticisms: two that I'll list here.
The first concerns a philosophical matter. There is an overemphasis on personal accountability given that a large number of theories "wokeism" draws from rely on Marx's model for historical determinism. Now, people have come up for defenses of this, namely along the lines of revisionism. But I'm not a revisionist, so I tend to reject those defenses.
The second criticism has to do with a blurring of two separate enterprises. Street-level activism and internet loudmouthing. When it comes to BLM or any other woke-adjacent movement, I like what the movement stands for. I agree with its goals. And I support street-level action to attain those goals. But at the same time, none of these has to do with with internet cliques or internet cultures.
Because we live much of our social lives on the internet, some of this can't be avoided. (And plenty of internet activism is a worthwhile endeavor; I'm not trying to paint it all with the same brush.) But there is a difference between large numbers of people who decide to "cancel" a comedian with a stroke of a keyboard key, and the work people do when they show up for a BLM protest.
Inasmuch as the second item is a conflation that conservatives tend to make, then wokeism is fine in that regard. But that's my issue. Even woke supporters can get confused about how important it is to cancel a comedian. There may be good reason to cancel a comedian. But that sort of thing will never hold a candle to how important it is to resist brutal policing. My fear is that a snowball effect is occurring where "dress up and play anarchist" folks will become the majority of woke supporters and will steer the movement according to what they think deserves priority. No. The woke movement should consist mostly of genuine activists. Hangers on can help. But they ought not steer the ship.
This isn't just something I'm pulling out of my ass. Cornel West has long been involved in leftist activism and worries about the waning "substance" he sees in the woke movement.
It's not like it's a problem the woke movement can't address. More emphasis on street-level activism and less emphasis on popular twitter feeds may send the flakes a-flying. But I would like to see the problem addressed before it gets out of hand.
But I do have some criticisms: two that I'll list here.
The first concerns a philosophical matter. There is an overemphasis on personal accountability given that a large number of theories "wokeism" draws from rely on Marx's model for historical determinism. Now, people have come up for defenses of this, namely along the lines of revisionism. But I'm not a revisionist, so I tend to reject those defenses.
The second criticism has to do with a blurring of two separate enterprises. Street-level activism and internet loudmouthing. When it comes to BLM or any other woke-adjacent movement, I like what the movement stands for. I agree with its goals. And I support street-level action to attain those goals. But at the same time, none of these has to do with with internet cliques or internet cultures.
Because we live much of our social lives on the internet, some of this can't be avoided. (And plenty of internet activism is a worthwhile endeavor; I'm not trying to paint it all with the same brush.) But there is a difference between large numbers of people who decide to "cancel" a comedian with a stroke of a keyboard key, and the work people do when they show up for a BLM protest.
Inasmuch as the second item is a conflation that conservatives tend to make, then wokeism is fine in that regard. But that's my issue. Even woke supporters can get confused about how important it is to cancel a comedian. There may be good reason to cancel a comedian. But that sort of thing will never hold a candle to how important it is to resist brutal policing. My fear is that a snowball effect is occurring where "dress up and play anarchist" folks will become the majority of woke supporters and will steer the movement according to what they think deserves priority. No. The woke movement should consist mostly of genuine activists. Hangers on can help. But they ought not steer the ship.
This isn't just something I'm pulling out of my ass. Cornel West has long been involved in leftist activism and worries about the waning "substance" he sees in the woke movement.
It's not like it's a problem the woke movement can't address. More emphasis on street-level activism and less emphasis on popular twitter feeds may send the flakes a-flying. But I would like to see the problem addressed before it gets out of hand.
