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The Origins of Woke
- Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
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The Origins of Woke
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Summary
Richard Hanania has emerged as one of the most talked-about writers in the nation, and in this book, he puts forward a stunning new theory about the culture war that could turn our debates upside down.
Richard Hanania has come out of nowhere to become one of the best-known writers in the nation in the last few years. In this book, he directs his attention to the culture war that has driven society apart and presents a stunning new theory about what is going on.
In a nation nearly evenly split between conservatives and liberals, the left dominates nearly all major institutions, including universities, the government, and corporate America. Hanania argues that this is as much a legal requirement as it is an issue of one side triumphing in the marketplace of ideas. Culture has its own independent force, but the state has, since the 1960s, been putting its thumb on the scale.
This book answers many of the puzzling questions about modern society, such as:
• Why does more and more of life seem like a competition to see who is the most oppressed?
• Who is really behind the sudden proliferation of woke ideas?
• How did ideas that seem so intellectually bankrupt achieve hegemony over elite culture?
• Which laws and regulations have helped the left rise to power everywhere?
• How did workplaces come to be the main enforcers of political ideology?
• When and how did Pakistanis, Samoans, and Koreans all become the same "race" (AAPI)?
• Why did America become so obsessed with inequalities based on race but not religion?
For those angry about wokeness and what it has done to American institutions, this book offers concrete suggestions regarding policies that can move us back to being a country that emphasizes merit, individual liberty, and color-blind governance.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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What listeners say about The Origins of Woke
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- Anonymous User
- 16-01-24
Excellent roadmap to a less divisive future
As one exceedingly tired by the culture war and upset by state-driven racial discrimination, it's great to be presented with a practical assessment of the regulations underpinning it all, and a roadmap towards a more meritocratic and civil future.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Robin Young
- 21-12-23
Thorough analysis of, and clear solutions to, an embedded ideology
Prescriptive but necessary critique of the ‘unintended consequences’ of woke. Woke DEI is a massive negative externality
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- Alex
- 22-09-23
Causes for woke and prescriptions on how to end it
I bought this audiobook because it was the subject of a hitpiece in the media, with the author being smeared with the slurs which are as predictable as they are false.
The book argues that woke is the direct result of civil rights legislation that was passed in the 1960s in the US (and then copied in other countries). While these civil rights laws were intended to break the ossified caste system in the American South, where a large portion of the population was denied basic rights, scope creep led to ever greater interference in the affairs of private parties - such as outlawing objective tests when some groups score worse than others, assuming discrimination when there is a numerical disparity in the opinions of bureaucrats, and the effective banning of jokes and opinions that can make others 'uncomfortable'. This caused companies to hire HR 'experts' who then have to justify why these bans are in place, for which they advance woke or woke-adjacent justifications.
Moreover, he argues that the aforementioned scope creep is the result not of laws, but of undemocratic decisions by judges and administrators. Many of the excesses of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the US law, are actually prohibited by the law itself, but which are then overruled by judicial or administrative fiat. This not only damages democracy, something the elites talk about a lot while respecting it very little, but also the rule of law - as it's definitely people ruling and not laws.
The book also provides some solutions. Hanania, as a libertarian, would rather have no state interference when it comes to private hiring decisions, but he recognizes that it's too late for that. Instead, he proposes some ways to keep the principle of legal non-discrimination in place, while mitigating and perhaps eliminating the excesses - like outlawing the use of the 'disparate impact' standard, among other propositions. This would reactivate free market incentives to not go woke.
One should be a bit skeptical of Hanania, as he is a libertarian who does not like state intervention, even in the pursuit of noble goals like combating racial discrimination. However, the causal chain is persuasive, though it does not explain why there was a wok explosion in the 2010s, even though these laws and procedures have been in place for quite a while. The reasoning is also US-centric: there are a lot of other countries that have a woke-problem, even though it may not be as bad as in the US. A comparative analysis between different countries may have been more productive. In the book, there is a comparison with France, but only to make a point about 'state strength'.
Still, I'd highly recommend this book, if only so that people can start debating on how to end the woke nonsense, rather than just complaining about it.
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2 people found this helpful