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James Lindsay | Woke Culture HAS NOT Gone Too Far - 6/8 | Oxford Union
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James Lindsay | Woke Culture HAS NOT Gone Too Far - 6/8 | Oxford Union

Introduction

In this section, the speaker expresses their opinion on the debate topic and explains why they believe it is absurd.

The Debate is Absurd

  • The speaker believes that the debate topic of whether "woke culture" can go too far is absurd.
  • They argue that to say "woke culture" can go too far is to side with the status quo and do epistemic violence against marginalized groups.
  • The speaker also argues that interrupting someone speaking on behalf of social justice is a form of violence.

Performative Contradiction

In this section, the speaker discusses how holding the proposition that "woke culture" can go too far is a performative contradiction.

Woke Culture Can't Go Too Far

  • The speaker references Habermas and argues that holding the proposition that "woke culture" can go too far is a performative contradiction.
  • They explain that saying this implies siding with the dominant culture and doing epistemic violence against marginalized groups.

Epistemic Violence

In this section, the speaker discusses how debating whether "woke culture" can go too far does epistemic violence against marginalized groups.

Debating Does Epistemic Violence

  • The speaker argues that debating whether "woke culture" can go too far does epistemic violence against marginalized groups.
  • Interrupting someone speaking on behalf of social justice is also seen as a form of violence in this context.

Pursuing Social Justice

In this section, the speaker defines what it means to be woke and pursues social justice.

Definition of Woke Culture

  • The speaker draws their definition of being woke from Paulo Ferrari's idea of concientization or raising critical consciousness.
  • Being woke means recognizing the structural reality of our lives and denouncing dehumanizing forms of oppression.

Pursuing Social Justice

  • The speaker argues that being woke pursues social justice, which is the positive transcendence of all forms of private property to end human self-estrangement.
  • They draw inspiration from Karl Marx's definition of communism as the positive transcendence of private property as human self-estrangement.

Colonizer Formal Wear

In this section, the speaker discusses how colonizer formal wear is problematic in a forum such as this debate.

Dress Code

  • The speaker comments on how great everyone looks in their black tie outfits.
  • However, they argue that celebrating colonizer formal wear has an impact on marginalized groups who cannot bring their full authentic selves to a forum like this.

Conscientization

In this section, the speaker explains what conscientization means and why it is essential to being woke.

Definition of Conscientization

  • The speaker defines conscientization as raising critical consciousness to recognize dehumanizing forms of oppression and modes of domestication.
  • They argue that being aware and recognizing these things is essential to being woke.

Social Equity

In this section, the speaker discusses social equity and its relationship with social justice.

Social Equity

  • The speaker argues that social justice is the consummation of something called social equity.
  • They define social equity as a necessary extension of Karl Marx's idea of socialism that consummates into communism.

Achieving Social Equity and Anti-Racism

Kennedy discusses the need for an anti-racist amendment to the US Constitution, which would establish a federal department of anti-racism with punitive powers. He argues that woke culture cannot go too far in denouncing existing society until it no longer stands.

The Need for an Anti-Racist Amendment

  • Kennedy argues that the only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination, and the only remedy to raise this discrimination is anti-racism.
  • He suggests that an anti-racist amendment to the US Constitution would make racial inequity unconstitutional and establish a federal department of anti-racism with absolute authority over all public policies, figures, private entities, and officials.
  • This department would have punitive powers to adjust racist ideas and racial inequities should they surface.

Woke Culture Cannot Go Too Far

  • Kennedy argues that woke culture cannot go too far in denouncing existing society until it no longer stands.
  • He cites David Halperin and Saint Foucault's definition of queer as that which resists all norms and social expectations. Queer Theory aims to bring awareness and empathy to ways of living under the LGBT umbrella but threatens to establish new social expectations around those modes of being.
  • Ferrari warns that after a cultural revolution, it's likely that the new government will impose its values upon existing society, making them necessarily right-wing. To prevent this, he suggests conscientization - deeper critical consciousness - calling out new forms of dehumanization and domestication.

Conclusion

  • Woke culture cannot go too far; therefore, well-culture has not gone far enough. The point of woke culture is to make room for a socially just society.
Video description

SUBSCRIBE for more speakers ► http://is.gd/OxfordUnion Oxford Union on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoxfordunion Oxford Union on Twitter: @OxfordUnion Website: http://www.oxford-union.org/ Initially used as a term to empower awareness of systemic inequalities in society, wokeism is now a deeply divisive term. The media's perpetuation of woke culture has made this term a buzzword. For some, being woke is part of the antidote of acknowledging the instruments of oppression. For others, it is a dangerously absolutist ideology, a sort of reverse McCarthyism, corroding liberal society and encouraging self-imposed victimhood. Is the 'war on woke' a legitimate phenomenon, or a reactionary distraction from the real problems being 'woke' addresses? ABOUT THE OXFORD UNION SOCIETY: The Oxford Union is the world's most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing international guests and speakers to Oxford. Since 1823, the Union has been promoting debate and discussion not just in Oxford University, but across the globe.