By David Roberts and Richard Molineux
At a recent Conservative Association book group meeting we had a lively and interesting discussion about “Cynical Theories” by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. The book is a detailed analysis of the various ‘Critical Theories’ which contain the ideas of the ‘Woke’ theology that originated in university departments and has since moved into many other fields including business, local government, the NHS, schools and many of our institutions.
Our discussion focussed on what a considered conservative response to the Critical Theories should be and our overall conclusion was that they have little to offer our society and potentially pose a considerable threat. The philosophical ideas underlying Critical Theory are profoundly unconservative and have their origins in the thinking of the various postmodern thinkers of the fifties, sixties and later. Their fundamental observation was that society comprises groups of people exercising power over each other and that that is the basic building block of all human interaction - so language is framed by the powerful to reinforce their dominance of the weak (Derrida) and sexual relations and sexuality are norms of behaviour constructed by the strong to oppress the powerless (Foucault), even science has developed to help the strong maintain their dominance (Foucault).
The notion that our understanding of society can be reduced to a simple series of power relationships is in conflict with the conservative view that society comprises the multiple human social interactions to be found in the family, friendships, work and the pursuit of companionship and fulfilling activity in the multiple societies and groups that bring people together. Within all these groups there is an element of the exercise of power, but there are many other important aspects including responsibility, mutual self interest, companionship, achievement and so on.
Conservative philosophy is founded on the idea of love between people - love of family, home, landscape, country, humanity. This love brings us together in common endeavours at the different levels of human interaction from the smallest, the family, through to the largest, humanity as a whole. At no point do conservative thinkers regard the exercise of power as the sole purpose and explanation of human endeavour. The postmodernists greatly oversimplified humanity’s way of arranging itself (society) because it provided a neat explanation for all human behaviour, not because the explanation had been empirically verified.
The next problem for conservatives with Critical Theory is its rejection of objective reality. Once you have decided that all human interactions are entirely driven by power relationships it becomes difficult to believe that there is an objective reality common to all. All the various Critical Theories believe that one person’s reality is different from another’s. Conservative philosophy has its roots in the enlightenment belief in rational thinking as the means by which humans solve problems and achieve improvements. Critical Theory rejects empirical reasoning, seeing it as a system devised by the powerful to protect their own interests.
The different forms of Critical Theory set out to undermine different aspects of our society based on a fundamental notion that our society is unjust and that social justice can only be achieved by destroying current and historic ways of thinking, so gradual social evolution is replaced by radical and angry denunciation. This has been seen very starkly in the gender campaigns which seek to replace science based definitions of gender and sex with socially constructed ones and intolerantly hound anyone who expresses a contrary view. It has also been seen in the relentless campaigns against historic figures and the truth of history itself.
The angry and destructive nature of Critical Theory places it in the long tradition of radical leftwing thought. Karl Marx and other radical left wing thinkers believed that humanity would be capable of evolution to a much better state, if only society could be reorganised to facilitate the transition from a competitive environment to one where everyone lives in harmony and in a state of happiness and fulfillment. Sadly, history is littered with examples of left wing attempts to achieve this utopian transition by force, which resulted in great suffering, cruelty and death on a scale unparalleled in human history.
Critical Theory is tempting humanity to go down a similar primrose path in the name of ‘Social Justice’ rather than the traditional leftwing dream of utopia. So according to Queer Theory the idea of there being only two genders denies Social Justice to anyone who does not identify as male or female - whatever the biological facts about sex. According to Critical Race Theory all white people are racist and need to be re-educated. According to Intersectional Theory all minority groups (ethnic minorities, gays, lesbians, transexuals, the disabled) need to assert their distinct identity in order to get ‘Social Justice’ rather than seeking common ground with society as a whole. According to Postcolonial Theory, many ideas and academic theories are to be disregarded simply because they were created by white people.
The common objective of all these branches of Critical Theory is to undermine society’s ways of thinking and of organising itself and in so doing to create as much tension and conflict within society as possible. This is a deeply unconservative agenda and as conservatives we should have the self confidence to reject it.
Unlike previous leftwing movements promoting radical and unproven social changes, the Social Justice/Critical Theory movement has not sought to “take power” directly but has focussed its efforts on influencing the behaviour and policies of a wide range of institutions from universities to large corporations. To do this it has weaponised the mob-like characteristics of social media so that an individual or institution can be accused of one of the “sins” identified by Critical Theory and so lose their job and suffer great harassment without having done anything wrong in the eyes of the law or society more broadly.
Many institutions and corporations are reluctant to confront this culture of denunciation because they fear adverse consequences for themselve. So the mob is encouraged by its success to find another victim and the process continues. For the accused there is limited opportunity to combat this bullying. As conservatives it is important that we identify the flaws in the Critical Theories in order to be able to resist their relentless march through our society and to protect it from harm. It is important that all conservatives develop the self confidence to stand up for their beliefs against this Woke onslaught.