Why this book?
- Offers a critique of wokeness and identity politics from within the leftist tradition.
- Reinterprets the three concepts of universalism, justice, and progress as the foundations of leftist thought.
- Examines the relationship between the ideas of Foucault and Schmitt and certain theoretical presuppositions of wokeness.
- Provides a philosophical framework for understanding today's disputes over social justice, identity, power, and cancel culture.
- Defends the legacy of the Enlightenment and the possibility of progress against historical pessimism.
About the book
Left Is Not Woke is a work by Susan Neiman, a contemporary philosopher and defender of the Enlightenment legacy, who critiques wokeness and a segment of contemporary identity politics from a leftist standpoint. Neiman's central question is whether every viewpoint that presents itself as a defender of marginalized groups and an opponent of discrimination is necessarily a logical continuation of the leftist tradition. Her answer is no.
Neiman organizes her argument around three principles: universalism, the distinction between justice and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress. In her view, the historical left, at its best, addresses human beings beyond their ethnic, racial, and group affiliations, does not reduce justice merely to power relations, and takes seriously the possibility of improving the world. Neiman believes that certain forms of wokeness, with their excessive emphasis on group identities, suspicion of universal claims, and a dark view of history, have distanced themselves from these principles.
In four main chapters, the book examines the opposition between universalism and tribalism, the relationship between justice and power, the problem of progress and decline, and finally, the question of what should remain from the leftist tradition. Along the way, Neiman also addresses the philosophical background of certain ideas prevalent in the contemporary intellectual climate and discusses their relationship with thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Carl Schmitt.
This work is a continuation of Neiman's long-standing concern with the Enlightenment, reason, ethics, and the possibility of human progress. Left Is Not Woke is suitable for readers interested in political philosophy, the contemporary left, identity politics, social justice, and the controversy over wokeness, who wish to read a philosophical critique of this movement from within the leftist tradition.
How did Michel Foucault become the godfather of the woke left? His style was undoubtedly radical, but his message was as reactionary as anything written by Edmund Burke or Joseph de Maistre. In fact, Foucault's vision was darker than theirs. Earlier conservative thinkers often warned that if revolutionaries challenged the traditions that hold societies together, whether out of good or bad faith, the gates of hell would open. On this point, Schmitt is exemplary and explicit, writing that because the state lost both God and governance in the seventeenth century, history entered a permanent decline. Foucault's warnings, however, were more subtle. Do you think we are moving toward processes that are more liberating and emancipatory, that show greater respect for human dignity—are we moving toward all the goals of the left? Let us look at the history of one or two institutions. Steps seem to have been taken toward progress, but in reality, more sinister forms of repression have emerged.
From the table of contents
- 1Chapter One: Universalism and Tribalism
- 2Chapter Two: Justice and Power
- 3Chapter Three: Progress and Decline
- 4Chapter Four: What Remains?