By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 16 Dec 24
In her talk, Doing Social Justice Responsibly on October 13, 2019 at the ‘Speaking Truth to Social Justice‘ conference in London, Helen Pluckrose tackled the ideological excesses within social justice activism, offering a way to address genuine social justice issues without abandoning reason or liberal principles. She argued that the dominant framework in social justice today—rooted in critical theory and postmodernism—has transformed genuine concerns about power and privilege into a rigid worldview. This ideology, she explained, rejects objective truth and promotes “strategic knowledge,” constructed to serve specific identity-based agendas rather than being tested against reality. Pluckrose acknowledged that while social justice concepts like bias, cultural narratives, and the power of language have validity, the radicalized methods often used within social justice turn productive critiques into dogma. Instead
In her talk, Doing Social Justice Responsibly on October 13, 2019 at the ‘Speaking Truth to Social Justice‘ conference in London, Helen Pluckrose tackled the ideological excesses within social justice activism, offering a way to address genuine social justice issues without abandoning reason or liberal principles. She argued that the dominant framework in social justice today—rooted in critical theory and postmodernism—has transformed genuine concerns about power and privilege into a rigid worldview. This ideology, she explained, rejects objective truth and
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 27 Nov 24
In this October 2019 lecture at the conference ‘Speaking Truth to Social Justice’ in London, James Lindsay presented a compelling critique of critical social justice and its ideological foundation in critical theory. He argued that this worldview fundamentally rejects objective truth, reason, and evidence-based methods, which are essential for genuine progress. According to Lindsay, critical theorists prioritize “strategic” theories over true or false ones, seeking to advance political agendas rather than to understand reality. Drawing on examples from feminist and social justice literature, Lindsay illustrated how critical theory undermines fields like engineering, climate science, and education by prioritizing social power over truth.
In this October 2019 lecture at the conference ‘Speaking Truth to Social Justice’ in London, James Lindsay presented a compelling critique of critical social justice and its ideological foundation in critical theory. He argued that this worldview fundamentally rejects objective truth, reason, and evidence-based methods, which are essential for genuine progress. According to Lindsay, critical theorists prioritize “strategic” theories over
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Nov 24
OnlySubs Episode 142: Is the “Woke Right” Really Woke? is available for FREE to everyone! To get access to all past and future episodes, consider becoming a contributor on one of the following platforms: Facebook Locals Odysee Patreon Subscribestar Substack YouTube Members What is the “Woke Right”? Does it really exist? Is it really Woke? If so, how? These are increasingly important questions in our present circumstances as a visibly radicalized Rightism is emerging from within the broader conservative coalition and aiming to distort its aims and values along some new (or new-old) path. In this special long episode of James Lindsay OnlySubs, my subscribers’ only podcast, I take you through an
OnlySubs Episode 142: Is the “Woke Right” Really Woke? is available for FREE to everyone! To get access to all past and future episodes, consider becoming a contributor on one of the following platforms: Facebook Locals Odysee Patreon Subscribestar Substack YouTube Members What is the “Woke Right”? Does it really exist? Is it really Woke? If so, how? These are increasingly important questions in our present circumstances as a
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 18 Nov 24
The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3 Communism is a religious view that has evolved and adapted over the last two centuries, including right up to the present day. Understanding the developments and threats in our present world requires understanding what Communism really is, especially in its Marxist variants, and how it has developed and changed over the years. In response to this need, James Lindsay of New Discourses held a four-lecture workshop series on the EVILution of Communism in Dallas, Texas, at the start of August 2024. In this third lecture in the series, Lindsay continues discussing the development
The EVILution of Communism Workshop, Session 3 Communism is a religious view that has evolved and adapted over the last two centuries, including right up to the present day. Understanding the developments and threats in our present world requires understanding what Communism really is, especially in its Marxist variants, and how it has developed and changed over the years. In
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 14 Nov 24
In October 2019, James Lindsay, Peter Boghossian, Helen Pluckrose, and filmmaker Mike Nayna gathered in London for a panel moderated by Michael O’Fallon to reflect on the infamous “Grievance Studies” project, often called “Sokal Squared.” This provocative project involved writing and submitting intentionally absurd papers filled with ideological jargon to academic journals. Their aim was to demonstrate how deeply critical social justice ideologies had compromised academic rigor, making it possible for nonsensical submissions to be accepted as legitimate scholarship. During the panel, Lindsay traced the project’s origins to a simple yet unsettling question about whether fields like gender studies had
In October 2019, James Lindsay, Peter Boghossian, Helen Pluckrose, and filmmaker Mike Nayna gathered in London for a panel moderated by Michael O’Fallon to reflect on the infamous “Grievance Studies” project, often called “Sokal Squared.” This provocative project involved writing and submitting intentionally absurd papers filled with ideological jargon to academic journals. Their aim was to demonstrate how deeply critical
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 11 Nov 24
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 151 What is “Woke“? What is its relationship to “Social Justice”? Why did so many people explain Woke as “Critical Social Justice” for several years? In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes you into the book that first opened his eyes to what “Woke” really is: Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo’s Is Everyone Really Equal? (first edition). This book could truly serve as an eye-opening “Woke for Dummies” guide to where Woke comes from, what it really means by “Social Justice,” and how it thinks about the world. It, like all Woke books, is also a Woke grimoire, drawing
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 151 What is “Woke“? What is its relationship to “Social Justice”? Why did so many people explain Woke as “Critical Social Justice” for several years? In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay takes you into the book that first opened his eyes to what “Woke” really is: Ozlem Sensoy and
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 7 Nov 24
New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 103 In the fight against Woke Marxism, there is no sitting out anymore. Too much is on the line. That means everyone who realizes what’s going on in our countries and around the world has a simple choice to make: be a leader or be a supporter. Leaders have to lead, and they need supporters, not merely followers. It’s up to you to figure out which one you have the capacities to be, and where, and to take up that mantle. In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay discusses this idea and its critical importance to stopping Woke and globalism from winning
New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 103 In the fight against Woke Marxism, there is no sitting out anymore. Too much is on the line. That means everyone who realizes what’s going on in our countries and around the world has a simple choice to make: be a leader or be a supporter. Leaders have to lead, and they need supporters, not merely followers. It’s up to you to figure
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 24 Oct 24
Postmodern Neo-Marxists For the last few decades, North American education schools have been ground zero for two dangerous intellectual movements: critical theory and postmodernism. While they may seem like they don’t mix well on the surface, both of these ideologies have taken over teacher training programs, creating a twisted form of education that’s designed to indoctrinate rather than teach students anything useful. Critical theory, which I generally refer to as “Critical Marxism” (following Marxist educator Isaac Gottesman), claims to expose hidden systems of oppression and inequality in society. Postmodernism, which I generally refer to as “Postmodern Marxism,” questions reality itself,
Postmodern Neo-Marxists For the last few decades, North American education schools have been ground zero for two dangerous intellectual movements: critical theory and postmodernism. While they may seem like they don’t mix well on the surface, both of these ideologies have taken over teacher training programs, creating a twisted form of education that’s designed to indoctrinate rather than teach students
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 5 Jul 24
“We are what we say and do. The way we speak and are spoken to help shape us into the people we become. Through words and other actions, we build ourselves in a world that is building us. That world addresses us to produce the different identities we carry forward in life: men are addressed differently than are women, people of color differently than whites, elite students differently than those from working families. Yet, though language is fateful in teaching us what kind of people to become and what kind of society to make, discourse is not destiny. We can
“We are what we say and do. The way we speak and are spoken to help shape us into the people we become. Through words and other actions, we build ourselves in a world that is building us. That world addresses us to produce the different identities we carry forward in life: men are addressed differently than are women, people
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 17 Jun 24
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 142 A Woke concept that doesn’t get nearly the attention it demands is the concept of various “Determinants of Health (DoH).” They are institutions, systems, and societal structures that have health-relevant outcomes, and the Woke Marxists have a few objectives in pushing this perspective, which amounts to “society is preventing you from having optimal health and needs to be controlled by Woke Marxists.” There are social determinants of health (SDoH), commercial determinants of health (CDoH), economic determinants of health (EDoH), political determinants of health (PDoH), and more (and more). Each is an
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 142 A Woke concept that doesn’t get nearly the attention it demands is the concept of various “Determinants of Health (DoH).” They are institutions, systems, and societal structures that have health-relevant outcomes, and the Woke Marxists have a few objectives in pushing this perspective, which amounts to “society is preventing you from