How Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance and Reason: 1 (None)

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Survey after survey suggests that most people do not identify as woke, yet woke thinking now dominates advertising, publishing, the media, civil service and our education system.

However, many who champion social justice causes argue that the idea of woke’s victory is largely exaggerated or imagined, citing continued cases of discrimination and rising hate crime based on people’s protected characteristics. Yet despite this, the goals associated with being woke not only still exist but have moved from the fringes of political life to mainstream thinking. In less than a decade, the word ‘woke’ has exploded into mainstream white culture, as predicted by Kelley back in 1962. The loudest voices in the Labour movement over the past year in particular have focused more on pulling down Churchill’s statue than they have on helping people pull themselves up in the world. Charlie Higson, author of the Young Bond novels, swoons over Bond star Daniel Craig for his portrayal of a spy who is less Lothario and more woke.By 2018, Urban Dictionary had a new definition: ‘The act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue. There are also more crude attempts to introduce older adults to woke, for example through online guides and, perhaps with a hint of knowing irony, newspaper supplements like The Woke Handbook for Boomers published in The Times . How Woke Won, a new book by Joanna Williams, is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the illiberal and divisive ideas that dominate society today. Vox magazine notes that a 1923 book by the Jamaican-born philosopher, black nationalist and political activist Marcus Garvey included the rallying cry: ‘Wake up Ethiopia! They have moved from the fringes of political life to the mainstream and now influence the actions of public institutions, national governments and private businesses.

Likewise in Switzerland, the two polytechnics, ETH Zürich and EPFL, are ranked higher than the universities. Women leaders such as Jacinda Ardern, Kamala Harris and Nicola Sturgeon exemplify the woke authoritarian outlook Mahmood describes.It assumes that some are too ignorant, and others too vulnerable, for people to be allowed to control their own lives and shape their nation. I also really enjoyed when she wrote about how major companies are capitalizing on the woke movement while also mistreating and exploiting workers around the world.