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If you’re woke, you’re left. If you’re left, you’re woke. We blur the terms, assuming that if you’re one you must be the other. That, Susan Neiman argues, is a dangerous mistake. The confusion arises because woke is fuelled by traditionally leftwing emotions: the wish to stand with the oppressed and marginalized, to address historic crimes. But those emotions are undermined by widespread philosophical assumptions with reactionary sources. As a result, wokeism conflicts with ideas that have guided the left for more than 200 years: a commitment to universalism, a firm distinction between justice and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress. Without these ideas, the woke will continue to undermine their own goals and drift, inexorably and unintentionally, towards the right.
One of the world’s leading philosophical voices, Neiman calls with passion and power for the left to return to the ideals that built the best of the modern world.
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At a time when anti-democratic nationalist movements are growing on every continent, don't we have more pressing problems than understanding political theory? Moreover, the left's criticism of those who apparently share the same values might seem like an example of narcissism. But what separates me from those who are "awake," who are woke, are not small differences. These are not just questions of style or tone; they go to the very core of what it means to be on the left. The right may be more dangerous, but today's left has been deprived of the ideas that we need if we hope to resist the onslaught of the right.
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Since 1924, capitalism has depended on planned obsolescence. At that time, the international association of large electronics companies decided to reduce the life of light bulbs from 2,500 to 1,000 hours. The old craftsmen's assumption that products should last as long as possible began to crumble. Today, we expect many of the appliances we use to stop working shortly after the warranty expires. It's no surprise that even relatively well-off people are feeling the pangs of economic insecurity. Today, you may have a warm home, enough food, an internet connection, maybe you even go on vacation from time to time. But will you know how to manage if your water heater, refrigerator and computer suddenly break down?
Susan Neiman
- ISBN: 978-953-369-058-2
- Dimensions: 128x200 mm
- Number of pages: 180
- Cover: paperback
- Year of the edition: 2025
- Original title: Left is not woke
- Original language: English
- Translation: Tihomir Cipek