Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody
by Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay
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Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practice yoga or cook Chinese food? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed so quickly to challenge the very logic of Western society?
In this probing and intrepid volume, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma that informs these ideas, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Today this dogma is recognizable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media dogpiles, as by its tenets, which are all too often embraced as axiomatic in mainstream media: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As Pluckrose and Lindsay warn, the unchecked proliferation of these anti-Enlightenment beliefs present a threat not only to liberal democracy but also to modernity itself.
While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalized communities it claims to champion. They also detail its alarmingly inconsistent and illiberal ethics. Only through a proper understanding of the evolution of these ideas, they conclude, can those who value science, reason, and consistently liberal ethics successfully challenge this harmful and authoritarian orthodoxy—in the academy, in culture, and beyond.
Prior to reading, I've been somewhat familiar with postmodernist philosophers, such as Foucalt, Derrrida, and Lyotard. More importantly though I wanted to learn more about the connection between these old postmodern thinkers and the new theories that are present today; I have seen people often insult certain ideas as being postmodern, but I've always wondered, "what do they mean by that, exactly?" The same goes for the ongoing ideas of 'wokism' and social justice warriors, etc.
Social Justice TheoryThe first part of the book gives a juicy historical introduction of the postmodern thinkers, and how their ideas that have been adapted into new theories that are ever present in modern society. Not only that, but they differentiate 'social justice' and "Social Justice Theory." An individual may care about social justice in a society, but a follower of Social Justice Theory is very specific in their thinking and actions. The author calls these new thoughts and ideas of Social Justice Theory "applied postmodernism" but common words to describe it would probably be 'woke, wokism' or something along that.
Postcolonial, Queer theory, Critical Race theory/intersectionalityThe authors suggests these theories as the beginning of Social Justice Theory, and each theory makes use of these postmodern techniques:
Blurring of boundaries and categories
Language as being all powerful
Cultural relativism
Ignoring of universals and individuals
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“In postmodern thought, language is believed to have enormous power to control society and how we think and thus is inherently dangerous.”
― Helen Pluckrose
Postcolonial Theory could simply be considered opposition against White European rule; a continued attack against Western values and ideas, and the thought that it is in no way superior than any other society. The idea of power is ever-present, a continuous struggle between the colonized (oppressed) and colonizer (oppressor) as well as the attempt to amplify these oppressed peoples' thoughts and voices.
Queer Theory is rather fascinating as its goal is to disrupt the idea of 'normativity' in discourses about gender and sex. Judith Butler, a famous queer theorist, argues that gender is only a performance. Queer theory is mostly used to deconstruct ideas of sex and gender, argue that gender is not binay (even sex is not) and thus the categories of man and woman are not as simple as one may think. It could be considered a precursor to gender studies today, as queer theory ideas are used in it. Today, I feel like queer theory is probably one of the more popular ideas of Social Justice Theory people are familiar with, because of its usage in trans ideology. People have been quite caught up on the question of, "what is a woman?" and it seems to be entirely because of Queer Theory and its success.
A recent example:
https://nypost.com/2023/06/05/university-of-cincinnati-student-alleges-professor-failed-her-project-for-using-the-term-biological-women/Quote
“Olivia, this is a solid proposal. However, the terms ‘biological women’ are exclusionary and are not allowed in this course as they further reinforce heteronormativity.”
Critical Race Theory / Intersectionality
Often abbreviated as CRT, it is probably one of the more contentious theories. A classic postmodern thought argues that groups of people exist as oppressors and oppressed, and in CRT, it is whites as oppressors, and blacks as oppressed. A white person can be considered racist, because they live in a society and support that society, and that society is systematically racist. These two quotes do a good job of explaining the idea of CRT.
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“It is bad psychology to tell people who do not believe that they are racist—who may even actively despise racism—that there is nothing they can do to stop themselves from being racist—and then ask them to help you. It is even less helpful to tell them that even their own good intentions are proof of their latent racism. Worst of all is to set up double-binds, like telling them that if they notice race it is because they are racist, but if they don’t notice race it’s because their privilege affords them the luxury of not noticing race, which is racist.”
― Helen Pluckrose
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“Critical race Theory’s hallmark paranoid mind-set, which assumes racism is everywhere, always, just waiting to be found, is extremely unlikely to be helpful or healthy for those who adopt it. Always believing that one will be or is being discriminated against, and trying to find out how, is unlikely to improve the outcome of any situation. It can also be self-defeating.
― Helen Pluckrose
Intersectionality is also a common thought today, often referring to the fact that a person of intersecting groups may face unique discrimination: a black woman may face discrimination for being black, and for being a woman, but it is special in that they may face discrimination for being a black woman. While the idea began with earnest intentions which do ask important questions, intersectionality has seemed to just become a competition for oppression and victimhood, with those making arguments that go something like: Black men may be oppressed by whites, but for black women black men are just as bad as their white oppressors. The same goes for heterosexuals oppressing homosexuals, etc. etc.
Fat studies and ableismThe author goes onto to talk about new up and coming theories that make use of the above philosophical concepts. Fat studies consist of oppressed and oppressors, fat people and skinny people; argues how doctors 'medicalize' fat people. Ableism is equally bananas in some regards as some advocates argue that society 'creates' disabled people and attempts to 'fix' them, which is oppression against normal human beings.
Liberalism vs postmodernismThe authors conclude that liberalism has been responsible for creating and improving societies, and that defending its values is key against illberial postmodern ideas.
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“The main tenets of liberalism are political democracy, limitations on the powers of government, the development of universal human rights, legal equality for all adult citizens, freedom of expression, respect for the value of viewpoint diversity and honest debate, respect for evidence and reason, the separation of church and state, and freedom of religion.”
― Helen Pluckrose, Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody
Overall I really enjoyed the book, a lot of discussion around Social Justice Theory has always seemed bizarre, but as the authors put it early in the book: proponents of the theory see and think of the world in an entirely different manner than most people. And to that point, it definitely shows.
This post was edited by Jupe on Jul 14 2023 06:04am