Wokeism has “had its day” and to effectively highlight and combat social injustices, the ‘left’ should self-reflect on its own role in supporting regimes responsible for atrocities and abuses.
They were two of the main messages from an event in London to officially launch the book ‘Coming Clean: The Rise of Critical Theory and the Future of the Left’, by Professor Eric Heinze, Professor of Law and Humanities at Queen Mary University of London.
Professor Heinze was joined by Dr. Edmundo Bracho-Polanco, Senior Lecturer and Programme Coordinator at the University of Westminster’s School of Media and Communication, for a discussion moderated by BBC radio presenter Paul Henley that explored the challenges facing the left.
The discussion explored the relationship between the left and honesty when it comes to its role in history.
Professor Heinze told an audience the left needs to self-reflect and acknowledge its own role in supporting governments on the left across the globe that have been responsible for human rights abuses and atrocities. He said it was vital in an era where the far-right is gaining support and coming to power to counter them. “Democracy depends on our ability to self-scrutinise our history.”
“We have to learn these centuries of history because in a sense they are still with us. What I argue in the book is that left is not doing this enough with the histories of atrocities on the left. Instead, there is an attempt to make a clean break ‘we don’t do that anymore, this is behind us’ and history can’t work that way,” he added.
Professor Heinze says self-criticism is necessary to be credible and he pointed out it isn’t just the left that needs to come clean. Conservative parties also need to be self-reflective.
Dr Bracho-Polanco agreed the left needs to examine its own history. “We need to find solutions to what has become reactionary responses that fuel polarisation.” He explained his lived experience of witnessing Venezuela turn from a democracy – albeit an imperfect one – to an authoritarian country.
Professor Heinze said when it comes to criticism of the far-right and democracy under threat, the left had to admit its own role in supporting regimes like those in Venezuela that hollowed out democracy.
Woke and the left – lessons for the future
The issue of wokeism and its future was explored in the discussion, with Dr Bracho-Polanco saying: “It’s a good thing that wokeism as a term is on its way out.”
He thinks the movement has fulfilled its purpose, but he doesn’t see it as a coherent ideology. He highlighted that the term ‘woke’ has been used to discredit left-wing activism and progressive values and has become a weapon of the far-right. The far-right often derides the left for its wokeness in telling people they need to take responsibility for a history of racism, colonialism and other injustices.
Professor Heinze said: “I’m not anti-woke, I want a new woke.”
“Woke is a catchphrase. You can’t expect a catchphrase to do the heavy work. I’m not expecting this term to be the key to our salvation.”
Again, he stressed the need for self-criticism, using the recent US elections as an example. He said the Democratic party’s post-election discussions about what went wrong have focused on talking less about issues like trans rights and more about “table issues”.
“I think it goes much deeper than tweaking the message. I want to get beyond this type of name and look at issues in a more systematic way.”
Bracho added that the whole wokeism debate takes energy away from the broader issues of the left like economic justice. “My point is doing away with the term. It doesn’t have longevity.”
The future
Professor Heinze argued the left risks undermining the values it seeks to uphold. Asked whether the left can still “ride to the rescue” Heinze replied “only after it rides to the rescue of itself”.
The launch event was held on 23 May at the Frontline Club and hosted by the Media Diversity Institute and the Centre for Law, Democracy, and Society at Queen Mary University of London.
Catch the recording of the panel discussion and book launch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhb_edN9LOM&ab_channel=MediaDiversityInstitute-MDI
