Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity - And Why...

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Helen Pluckrose James Lindsay

Cynical Theories

How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity - And Why this Harms...

Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay

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English

SWIFT PRESS
20 July 2021

Society & Social Sciences; Society & culture: general

Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only white people can be racist? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed so quickly to challenge the very logic of Western society?

Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma behind these ideas, from its origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Today this dogma is recognisable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media pile-ons, as by its assertions, which are all too often taken as read: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As they warn, the unchecked proliferation of these beliefs present a threat to liberal democracy.

While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalised communities it claims to champion.

By: Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay
Imprint: SWIFT PRESS
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm,
ISBN: 9781800750326
ISBN 10: 1800750323
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 20 July 2021
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Helen Pluckrose is a liberal political and cultural writer and speaker. She is the editor of Areo Magazine. Helen lives in Essex, England. James Lindsay is a mathematician with a background in physics and founder of New Discourses (newdiscourses.com). James lives in Tennessee.

Reviews for Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity - And Why this Harms Everybody

Book of the Year - The Times Book of the Year - Sunday Times Book of the Year - Financial Times 'Brilliant' Daily Telegraph 'Exposes the surprisingly shallow intellectual roots of the movements that appear to be engulfing our culture' Steven Pinker 'If you want to know the philosophy behind cancel culture and why it is so creepy, get this book. Then, give it to your friends and family.' Ayaan Hirsi Ali