Perspective Chapter: Black Lives Matter and the Anti-Woke Campaign in the UK

Pilkington, A. D.

doi:10.5772/intechopen.99929

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Baudrillard (1994)’s notion of historical myths and nostalgia ties into these narrative constructions of the word “woke”. “Woke” as a signifier disconnected from its roots in the Black community relies on the language of historical myth and nostalgia to perpetuate itself—“American values,” “protect our children,” “anti‐politically correct,” “unpatriotic.” Through the use and reproduction of these symbols on social media and mainstream media, structural racism is upheld via an “anti‐woke” pushback (Pilkington 2021).…”

Section: Viewing “Woke” Through a Postmodern Lensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weaponization of Wokeness: The Theater of Management and Implications for Public Administration

Zavattaro

Bearfield

2022

Public Administration Review

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Contemporarily, the word "woke" has moved into the popular lexicon, largely to mean aware of and ideally doing something about systemic racism. After the George Floyd murder, and many other state-sanctioned murders of Black Americans, protests erupted globally, and public administrators responded either with actionable policy changes or sometimes symbolic, "woke" statements that did little to alter the system. In this conceptual paper, we explore the reasons for this via Baudrillard's phases of the image, showing how the word "woke" has moved from roots in the Black community to being weaponized today via its disconnection from this reality, thus trending toward its own hyperreality. In this final phase, the word "woke" has no connection to its former reality, leading to the passage of legislation that upholds White power structures. Evidence for Practice• The word "woke" and its associated symbols have helped create policies that either help or harm marginalized communities depending upon the associated rhetoric. • Some political leaders have weaponized the word "woke" to pass policies that harm marginalized communities and people while upholding White-centered power structures. • Analyzing the word's changes through a postmodern lens helps theoretically explain these shifts. I n 2017, the Oxford English Dictionary added an entry for the word "woke," defining it as "Originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice; frequently in stay woke" (Steinmetz 2017, para. 3). As detailed by Time magazine, the word "woke" in the 1920s meant staying awake but in the 1960s came to mean being awakened to social issues (Steinmetz 2017). Contemporarily, the word "woke" is becoming unmoored from any ties to this reality that it is used as a signifier to mean anti-American, anti-social justice, anti-critical race theory. Some elected officials are on Twitter decrying "wokes" and criticizing people and policies they think do not align with their personal viewpoints. Yet "it is less a coordinated messaging push and more of an instinctive sense that the label would work as shorthand to denigrate a progressive worldview-and it's a word they're hearing from their voters, too, as it buzzes around conservative media" (Smith and Kapur 2021, para. 5).As more elected officials use the word "woke" as a rhetorical instrument signaling their disapproval of socially just policies and practices, it becomes important to understand the implications for public administration. In this conceptual article, we use Baudrillard's (1994) phases of the image to argue that the word "woke" in its current form-as a symbolic call against policies focusing on social justice and equity, and a push for policies that uphold hegemonic White power structures-is so far unhinged from its roots in the Black community that it is creating its own hyperreality. This is problematic because lawmakers are weaponizing the word to pass legislation that furthers others and alienates people from full participation in the...

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Section: Viewing “Woke” Through a Postmodern Lensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weaponization of Wokeness: The Theater of Management and Implications for Public Administration

Zavattaro

Bearfield

2022

Public Administration Review

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“…He touches upon issues that are very pertinent such as the social acceptability of discriminatory attitudes against Gypsies and Travellers in spaces where other forms of discrimination would not be tolerated. This is especially important when considering how Higher Education is lauded as a a liberal space and students derided as 'woke' in the mainstream media (Pilkington, 2021). For Gypsy and Traveller students this is clearly not the case and no doubt contributes to their feelings of displacement.…”

Section: Displacementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The minority within the minority: The survival strategies of Gypsy and Traveller students in Higher Education

McDonagh

Fonseca

2022

IJRS

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In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the barriers faced by Gypsies and Travellers in accessing Higher Education (e.g. Clark, 2004; Mulcahy, Baars, Bowen-Viner and Menzies, 2017; Darcy and Galloway, 2018). This follows decades of research on the attitudes, barriers and experiences of pupils in compulsory education (e.g., Bhopal, 2004; Levinson, 2007, 2014; Hamilton, 2016). However, there is still a lack of research exploring the trajectories of students within Higher Education. Clearly, the barriers that inhibit students’ success at primary and secondary school go some way in explaining the underrepresentation in Higher Education but there is still a lack of understanding of how these students experience Higher Education and the survival strategies they use to strive in such an environment. In an attempt to address this knowledge gap, this research draws attention to the stories of students who have succeeded in such educational environment. Using in-depth interviews, we attempted to explore how Gypsy and Traveler students have sustained positive participation during their time in Higher Education and identify the factors that contributed to their success. The results show that students often experienced discrimination and othering in Higher Education Institutions that often resulted in a sense of displacement as students learned to navigate through not only the institutions but their own identities. Playing white, finding a sense of purpose and focus on their studies were the main surviving strategies identified within the individuals studied.

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“…The Common Sense group is an elitist actor with access to state institutions (Parliament, ministries) which mobilises available political resources to publicly challenge the legitimacy of charities' political activities and portray them as narrow, unlawful and against the public interest. Starting with the name of the faction, the Common Sense group wants to contrast political correctness with common sense, as a way to appeal to the supporters' base (Pilkington, 2021). Moreover, they employ a nostalgic and emotional discourse to mobilise the public behind the narrative of 'restoration' of national pride.…”

Section: An External Challengermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, in April 2021 the Common Sense group formally demanded an inquiry into The Runnymede Trust due to the charity criticism of a public report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities ( 'the CRED report') (Parveen and Mohdin, 2021). The Runnymede Trust was one of the most vocal actors among academics and other leading social justice CSOs who publicly challenged the findings of the CRED report that denied the prevalence of institutional racism in the UK (Pilkington, 2021). Following this, the Charity Commission opened an investigation into the lawfulness of the political activity of The Runnymede Trust as well as investigating if trustees breached their duties by engaging with a watchdog CSO The Good Law Project which scrutinised public appointments.…”

Section: Main Tactics: Media Attacks and Formal Complaints Against Ma...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most frequently covered culture war issues in the UK were those related to the country’s colonial past in reference to the removal of statutes prompted by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests; as well as race, ethnicity, and racism (Duffy et al, 2021: 19). Based on newspaper article mentions, the main protagonists of culture wars in the UK are the political establishment (Duffy et al, 2021: 21), making it an elite-driven phenomenon, in which political elites and conservative media are the main protagonists (Pilkington, 2021).…”

Section: Culture Wars and The Contested Political Role Of Charities I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Civil society elites’ challengers in the UK: A frontlash/backlash perspective

Hadjievska

2022

The British Journal of Politics and International Relations

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Amid growing polarisation in European societies, civil society elites, encompassing resource-rich, influential and often liberal-oriented civil society organisations (CSOs), are under increased attacks by conservative and progressive actors alike. This article aims to understand who challenges civil society elites, on what grounds, and with what means do they do so in the United Kingdom, by drawing on the cultural theory of frontlash/backlash. The article portrays two ideologically opposed challengers: one coming from within the charity sector in the form of the #CharitySoWhite campaign and another from outside the charity sector led by Conservative MPs, the Common Sense group. While these two challengers are not directly connected, they are part of the broader frontlash/backlash dynamic polarising public debates, with spillover effects in civil society. By applying a frontlash/backlash perspective, the article puts an emphasis on cultural cleavages as one of the central sources of polarisation in the civil space.

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Perspective Chapter: Black Lives Matter and the Anti-Woke Campaign in the UK

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Weaponization of Wokeness: The Theater of Management and Implications for Public Administration

Weaponization of Wokeness: The Theater of Management and Implications for Public Administration

The minority within the minority: The survival strategies of Gypsy and Traveller students in Higher Education

Civil society elites’ challengers in the UK: A frontlash/backlash perspective

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