The Fight Against 'Cultural Socialism'
A Review of Eric Kaufmann's Book: Taboo
Book review by Graeme Kemp:
‘Taboo: How Making Race Sacred Produced a Cultural Revolution’ by Eric Kaufmann (2024); Swift Press; London, 392 pages.
Eric Kaufmann’s latest book Taboo is an ambitious and wide-ranging book that seeks to bring together and explain the various ‘culture war’ narratives that circulate in contemporary society: the growth of Critical Race Theory as an explanation of ethnic disparities; the increasing limits placed on free speech in the name of ‘safety’; the questioning of ideas such as objectivity or truth in academic disciplines; as well as attacks on statues and aspects of Western history. All this is occurring amid the rise of a militant kind of activism online, including the aggressive promotion of gender ideology.
All this may provoke a feeling of despair, as ‘woke’ thinking tightens its grip in the media, industry or education, resulting in the social phenomenon of cancel culture: the banning or limiting of alternative views. As Kaufmann notes, many individuals are reluctant to speak out and oppose what is happening – or they feel compelled to support dubious new ideas on race or gender in the workplace.
As he notes:
“When benign private self-censorship becomes compelled public speech, we enter a totalitarian world of thought control. This threatens the Enlightenment truth-seeking principles which underpin the success of Western society.” (page 375).
So, the stakes are high. If we feel we are getting a little tired of such culture war controversies, Eric Kaufmann offers a fresh, detailed and thorough explanation of what is at stake – all backed up with the relevant facts and figures. We must fight the growth of what he labels “cultural socialism, the hegemonic ideology of Western elite culture.” (page ix). The book concludes with a 12-point plan to defeat such a dominant, authoritarian system of thought, that can often seem unstoppable.
And Kaufmann believes we can defeat such ideas, ushering in a new era of cultural flourishing. Modern liberalism has been corrupted and we desperately need a rebalancing towards a new genuine liberalism.
So, what is this ‘cultural socialism’? Partly, he says, it is an outgrowth of an older left-liberalism that was suspicious of majorities and looked favourably on minorities. It is defined by a belief in equal outcomes for all ethnic or racial groups, a focus that creates a hypersensitivity around issues of identity, coupled with a belief that societies could be explained around an oppressor/oppressed binary. So-called ‘cultural socialism’ is preoccupied with race, gender and sexual identities – and a highly subjective understanding of these traits. In the cause of preventing ‘harm’ to different identity groups, these traits must be protected, with minority identities shielded from ‘oppressive’ majority cultures.
According to Kaufmann, this ‘cultural socialism’ sees such categories as male and female, or White and Black, as embodying oppression – with males and Whites, for instance, enjoying status or privilege on this basis. So, esteem and power need to be transferred from oppressors to the oppressed. And when it comes to sex or gender, the binary needed to be deconstructed and replaced by something ill-defined, such as gender fluidity for instance, around sexuality.
Majority cultures should be deconstructed or questioned – but minority cultures should not.
Majority cultures should be deconstructed or questioned – but minority cultures should not.
As Eric Kaufmann points out in Taboo – a focus on protecting certain groups from discrimination and unfairness was indeed admirable. Yet, if past discrimination was wrong – present discrimination could be justified to achieve equity, some claim. He quotes the now notorious statement by Ibram X Kendi that racist discrimination in the past, requires antiracist discrimination in the present. Different outcomes for different ethnic groups, according to Kendi was evidence that racism was still a dominant system in the West – there could be no other explanation for racial disparities.
Kaufmann explains the problem with this kind of thinking:
Curiously, most readily accept inequality when it comes to within-race ethnic difference. We don’t hear much in Britain about the achievement gap within Whites between the Gypsy/Traveller and Jewish communities or within Blacks between American slave-descended Blacks and immigrant-origin Blacks…These disparities are not seen as caused by structural ethnicism, yet race gaps give rise to immediate charges of structural racism” (Page 13).
What Kaufmann terms ‘cultural socialism’ therefore creates an environment of competitive victimhood involving different identity groups advancing their claims of trauma, allegedly caused by disparities. Such an emotional discourse creates a reaction from ‘social justice’ activists against any majority deemed to be ‘oppressive’. Society gets fractured along ethnic lines further, for instance, as awareness of ethnic differences grow. Kaufmann argues that such illiberal activism often comes from below and is not necessarily a top-down government ideology.
Eric Kaufmann traces the slow growth of this illiberal ‘social justice’ ideology over the last century, including through the 1960s which were a critical time when an “Identitarian” (Page 33) form of left-wing politics started to grow. This saw the political left shift gradually from a politics of class towards a politics of identity. It also saw a development of a moral interest in ideas based around care and harm, as well as equality; there was an increased sensitivity to racial issues too.
As Kaufmann points out: change was indeed needed in terms of how people who were black or ethnic minority were treated. It was to be welcomed that overt racism declined and became a taboo.
Yet, as he notes, these improvements in opposing racism also “opened the way for illiberal outrage entrepreneurs.” (Page 41). The narrative of white guilt (for racism) would become a powerful explanatory concept for elites in society, one that enabled educated Whites to distinguish themselves from the great “unwashed” (Page 42) masses. Indeed, the Western working class were increasingly seen as apathetic by many on the left, viewed less and less as agents of social change. The New Left in the 1960s saw radical change as coming from the marginalised, the young or the Third World.
A progressive identity or mindset became increasingly dominant, based around an emotional response to issues of race and sexual identity. A focus on equal rights, or equality of opportunity, shifted to a focus on equality of outcomes. Demands for free speech morphed into demands to control or restrict speech to prevent ‘harm’. Colour-blind anti-racism increasingly seemed outmoded.
Yet, as Kaufmann notes, political campaigns based on emotion and sloganeering are always in danger of over-reaching and attacking the cultural foundations of a society, undermining liberty, excellence and social cohesion. Academic freedom would eventually suffer too. This soon included overreactions and attacks on ideas seen as beyond the pale. For instance, the controversy that developed around evolutionary biologist E.O Wilson in the 1970s. Wilson sought to explain the role evolution and biology played in human behaviour – but was lambasted unfairly as promoting racism, misogyny and Nazism.
The impact of Postmodern theories and Critical Social Justice from the 1970s and 1980s onwards only added fuel to the fire and saw the growth of Critical Race Theory, for instance. This added to fears and sensitivity around claims of psychological harm to historically marginalised identity groups. Postmodernism attacked the rationality of Enlightenment thinking and emphasised a kind of cultural relativism, as well as a focus on the way language ‘constructed’ reality for us. Western culture and values needed ‘deconstruction’, the same with sex and gender. When it came to ethnicity, concepts of power and privilege were key explanatory ideas.
By the mid-1990s Kaufmann states, all the key elements of what we now term ‘wokeness’ were in place. Racism was seen less as a feature of individual bigots or extremists and more as an outcome of racist systems or culture. As the activist lawyer Joan McEwen claimed about the University of British Columbia:
While she couldn’t name any names, McEwen revealed that the department was riven with “systemic” discrimination, sexism, and racism. She said the culture of the department had an adverse impact on those who don’t share its prevailing characteristics: “older, White, male, heterosexual, middle-class, of Anglo/European heritage” (Page 73).
As with many such arguments for systemic or cultural racism, the evidence offered was quite thin.
Eric Kaufmann does a detailed job exposing the spread of ‘cultural socialism’ and its obsession with allegedly racist power structures. If ethnic minorities were not represented fully in percentage terms in certain jobs, it was claimed, then racism must be the explanation. Whereas once racist intent was key in explaining racism, the definition was now expanded to include things like micro-aggressions. ‘Diversity’ was increasingly seen as a good thing – and a lack of diversity indicated racism.
Kaufmann explains the role of universities in spreading various ‘woke’ ideas, as well as social media. He explains how various gender-critical academics have suffered at universities such as Essex and Sussex. Cancel culture is all too real and damages lives, as well as academic freedom.
The arts and technology firms, as well as universities, seem to be affected most by such illiberal ideas. Yet the increasing lack of viewpoint diversity in these organisations creates a monoculture, one that stifles creativity and fresh thinking. Museums, publishers and newspapers are affected by self-censorship, too.
Eric Kaufmann is detailed in explaining who is more likely to support ‘woke’ thinking as well as behind authoritarian responses to less ‘progressive’ views. Younger employees in an organisation, for example, are more likely to support firing another employee for unacceptable views or breaches of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion standards, than those over age 50. Controversial areas like race, gender and sexuality are the divisive issues. As Kaufmann points out in his research: ‘progressive’ workplaces are often actually the most intolerant! This is backed up with diagrams and charts, explaining how people perceive freedom of expression in the UK.
Unfortunately, in places there are a few flaws: the Seach Index Score for Racism (figure 3.1) chart (on page 85) is unreadable, as place names are printed over the top of other place names. Hopefully, this will be corrected in future editions of the book.
Kaufmann highlights the important battleground of education. In explaining the impact of Critical Social Justice ideas in UK schools. Kaufmann reveals the state of fear created by such ‘woke’ ideology. Referring to Figure 6.6 on page 186, he explains that…
“…White students exposed to the maximum number of five CSJ concepts are over twice as likely (43 percent) to say they feared being expelled as those who were not taught any of these radical ideas (19 percent).” (Page 186).
This is a disturbing trend in modern society. And as Kaufmann explains, we should be concerned about what happens in schools because of the above.
Unsurprisingly, the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 spurred on much of the above cultural turmoil, often leading to calls in the USA to ‘de-fund’ the police and adopt a less pro-active approach to policing communities. Yet Kaufmann is adept in revealing how defunding police forces resulted in a surge in crime and killings, including murders of black people. This often resulted later in a rapid policy U-turn on policing, when the impact became clear of such ‘progressive’ failures…
Yet, in the wider social context Kaufmann offers hope. The Cass Review dented the influence of Gender Ideology in the UK recently, he explains. The role of the Safe Schools Alliance is highlighted, too. Organisations such as Don’t Divide Us have worked to counter the influence of Critical Race Theory. He mentions how the History Reclaimed group is arguing back against theories of history that are not fair or accurate. Kaufmann acknowledges the work of the Equiano Project, too, at the end of Taboo.
So, what solutions does Eric Kaufmann advance to solve the cultural and political crises detailed above? How can we reverse the ‘woke’ tide and create a new liberal era of human flourishing? We cannot, he says, adopt a laissez-faire approach – and governments will have to actively intervene to protect our freedoms…
Kaufmann therefore suggests a twelve point rescue plan based around the following:
Defending free speech
Demanding political neutrality in all public institutions
Making political beliefs a protected characteristic
Opening public bodies up to political appointments
Nurturing a group of public servants who can represent the views of the ‘non-Woke majority‘
Getting candidates for political office to support anti-Critical Social Justice pledges
Building a grassroots network of political pressure groups to oppose ‘woke’
Developing counter-cultural think tanks and intellectual leaders
Reforming the teaching of history
Supporting a ‘retain and explain ‘ policy towards controversial statues or monuments
Developing an effective political communications policy to oppose illiberal ideas
and finally, decentring issues of race, gender and sexuality, resisting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) buzzwords and demands.
It's an ambitious but positive list. I’m not sure, however, how opening-up public bodies to overtly (anti-woke) political appointments would work, or even if it’s desirable. Kaufman’s point is probably more relevant to the USA and institutions like the US Supreme Court. I’m also not sure if asking would-be MPs to sign pledges offered by pressure groups really works.
My other main criticism would be Kaufmann’s use of the term ‘cultural socialism’ to summarise the forces that threaten liberty, free speech and a united, cohesive society based on colour-blind principles. The term is likely to put off many on the left of politics when, as Kaufmann admits, we need to bring many on the moderate left with us. I understand that he uses the term to include Critical Social Justice as well as other related ideologies, including other historical movements and ideas. However, ‘cultural socialism’ may not be the best term and may create unnecessary confusion. Maybe ‘progressive ideology’ or something similar might be better.
Oddly, the book has no index.
However, Taboo is an important landmark book by Eric Kaufman that deserves to be read.
Buy Taboo: How Making Race Sacred Produced a Cultural Revolution here.
Graeme Kemp is a former teacher and civil servant who currently lives in the Midlands. He is an English and Cultural Studies graduate of several universities in England and Scotland. He has also contributed book reviews to the Don't Divide Us website and 'Bournbrook' Magazine.
I’ll show up for whoever needs it, however they need it in their particular situation. I do think people have experienced racism or sexism or classism, but lots of people haven’t and don’t want to be defined by identity politics. Or, they have experienced some kind of discrimination and *still* don’t want to be defined by it. I think the most important thing is to listen with compassion.
And honestly, sometimes just listen and maybe not talk too much, if at all. I wonder how much “showing up” is sometimes just butting into situations or stories that aren’t yours and that you don’t fully understand. I believe in offering support to the vulnerable whenever you can, but I think you have to be careful not to make it about you. I mean, clearly speak up if someone is being outright attacked, but do it from a place of true urgency, not just to get attention in the culture wars or whatever.
<shrug> I think most people just want things to work well and do right by others. We gotta look out for the exploiters, but stop letting the bastards drive *everything* all the time.
"Cultural socialism" is a convoluted concept. And we don't need nonblack slave descendants in our business in America. Nigerians feel superior to native Black Americans and immigrate to America to take advantage of what native Blacks fought and died for. Post European colonialism has Africans, South Asians and others using whitening creams.