Why wokeness has pitched the left into crisis | El País - 11 Mar 2024 |

Criticism is emerging from unexpected quarters over the puritanical aspects of the current wave of political correctness that puts the focus on identity and difference

Woke is not what it used to be. For some years, the term was used to describe those who are sensitive and involved in the struggle against social injustice, especially in U.S. politics, but also in the politics of other countries following suit perhaps to a lesser degree. Woke was a label proudly worn by activists in pursuit of social and climate justice: from Black Lives Matter to the #MeToo movement and the fight against global warming. Woke seemed to advocate a new era of equality and justice.

Now, however, the concept is being turned on its head by a growing anti-woke contingent that, according to the laws of action and reaction, has imbued the term with the kind of contempt that discredits those progressive causes. What began as a kneejerk reaction from the right has now spread to encompass an element of the left that is dissatisfied with woke's current prominence, is concerned by what they consider its excesses, and its lack of universality. Woke is now used as an insult. The growing criticism of the woke from some members of the left is generating tensions, as reflected by authors and philosophers such as Susan Neiman, Umut Özkirimli and Stéphanie Roza, not to mention the exuberance of right-wing critics within the field.

"By subverting the word `woke,' the ultraconservative sector of the U.S. Republican Party managed to turn it into a kind of catch-all to criticize any progressive aspect of the political spectrum, be it education on racism, feminism, identity politics or even books they consider inappropriate," explains journalist and writer Lucía Lijtmaer, author of Ofendiditos. Sobre la criminalización de la protesta (Anagrama, 2019). Today, anti-woke, especially among the U.S. right, could be considered a movement in itself.

Hijacking a positive theme by turning it upside down labeling it as strictly negative. A war of words, or militarizing disinformation, propagandizing politics for decades now.

'Sapere aude'