Cancelled: The Left Way Back from Woke - book review by Graeme Kemp

Umut Ozkirimli asks the kind of questions many on the contemporary Left rarely ask, not least when commenting on political issues around race, or gender. Many ‘woke’ progressive protest movements claim to advance the cause of critical social justice, basing their ideas around the identity politics of oppressed and oppressor groups. Social class often features less as a category, these days, though. This prompts Umut Ozkirimli to ask:

“Do I think that radical identity politics is distracting us from non-culture-war-related issues? Yes, I do. Do I believe that woke activism is an individual empowerment-driven, narcissistic middle- and upper middle-class pastime? Absolutely. And I wonder: why are there so few progressive leftists who shout “the emperor has no clothes”? (Page 183).

Anyone familiar with Joanna William’s book ‘How Woke Won’ (2022) will be familiar with this type of argument about who is attracted to ‘woke’ ideas, around Critical Race Theory, for instance. Umut advances interesting and provocative arguments in his book ‘Cancelled’ that explore such issues. He offers an original take on this set of debates – even if some of his ideas can be questioned or argued over. In exploring identity politics on the Left, and also the Right, Umut Ozkirimli offers a fresh perspective on a corrosive politics that just won’t go away.

Umut starts from what is today quite an unusual political position – that of a traditional, universalist, egalitarian Left that valued free speech. In an age of cancel culture, in an era of radical identity politics that judges dissent harshly, he describes how he has started to question what it means to be on the Left. Indeed, he says, the new ‘woke’ authoritarian Left is now mirroring the intolerant, authoritarian Right. Umut feels…

“…a growing unease with the Left’s endless victim-mongering and obsession with symbolic harm at the expense of more flagrant forms of injustice…I had to go for the ..more challenging, option: to find a way out of the rabbit hole and reclaim the Left from the woke Left.” (Page 9).

Umut Ozkirimli’s role model for the Left, when discussing culture, politics and identity is Loretta J. Ross, a founder of feminist and anti-racist groups in the US from the 1970s to the 1990s. Loretta J. Ross was a “Black feminist preaching universal human rights (at the expense of radical identity politics)” (Page 10) according to Umut. Having suffered a harsh life that could easily have fostered a ‘victim’ mentality, she moved towards a politics that expressed a common humanity and sense of solidarity across divisions in society – a politics that expressed her faith in fellow human beings, with an inclusive focus on social justice for all. Her views were a contrast to the narcissism and individualism of much contemporary politics, a politics that often seemed to substitute personal therapy for collective political activity. Loretta Ross rejected the performative drama of so much ‘progressive’ politics today, according to Umut – something we need more of, he says.

Rejecting any hierarchy of victimhood or oppression, he asks the Left why…

“Shouldn’t we talk to White male working-class voters of Trump, pro-life women or gender critical feminists, and try to understand them? Don’t they also fall under the remit of intersectionality even if we believe they might not be as marginalized as, say, a trans woman of color…?” (Page 25).

What we need, he argues, is a renewed focus on dialogue, solidarity and coalition building – not cancelling people, or arguing about pronouns or blowing up minor verbal disputes into existential threats. And yet the Left often inflames the very culture war it denies exists - often falling into a political trap set by their opponents.

And such identity politics remains a departure from the basic liberal values we desperately need, according to Umut. This is a liberalism that emphasises freedom of belief and freedom of speech.

In the areas of university education, Umut quotes Marxists such as Todd Gitlin and Adolph Reed Jr. who point to higher education as now a “…breeding ground for a new type of identity politics…created by the defeat of revolutionary universalism.” (Page 109).

Umut explains why Critical Race Theories expounded by such activists as Ibram X Kendi and Robin DiAngelo are often flawed - with their confused reasoning about the relationship between racist ideas, policies and racial inequalities. CRT thinkers have a tendency to see ‘Whiteness’ or ‘Blackness’ as monolithic categories too - Critical Race Theory often sees things in literally Black and White terms. And as Umut points out – being oppressed does not make any identity any more morally virtuous or superior to another.

And yet … Umut Ozkirimli adds the following slightly confusing qualification to the above argument in his book, when discussing the authors who support Critical Race Theory:

“Their diagnosis of the current racial order is fundamentally correct. Structural racism continues to be the main domestic threat to justice and equality in the US, the UK, and beyond. Whiteness is still the entrenched norm for being human…” (page 90).

Really? All the time? And what is this thing called ‘whiteness’? So, Umut seems to be arguing that CRT is just a bit too crude in its descriptions of racism, as well as limited in its solutions, rather than wrong as such. Elsewhere in his book, Umut seems to think attempts by the Right to oppose CRT in US schools is just opportunism, rather than maybe reasonable or understandable. I’m not always fully convinced by what he argues in the book concerning some issues.

Umut Ozkirimli is equally brutal about what he sees as the identity politics of the Right, though. He takes us through the emerging and chaotic politics of America under Trump and the re-emergence of dubious political right-wing ideas about identity: “If Blacks, Latinos, and Asians can organize around race and ethnicity, Whites say, we can’t we?” (page 45) referencing the observations of political scientist Ashley Jardina. Indeed, the Right seeks to endorse and legitimise such thinking, he argues. This constitutes a kind of right-wing attack on liberalism, that parallels the ‘woke’ left-wing assault.

Umut is arguably right about why thinkers like Eric Kaufman or Douglas Murray are wrong in what they sometimes say about ethnicity and nationhood. They do this from a very right-wing perspective. However, he possibly is too hard on other thinkers like Maurice Glasman (Blue Labour) or David Goodhart, as well as academic Matthew Goodwin, an expert on populism. It’s not the first time these political thinkers have been criticised for promoting a kind of right-wing identity politics – Kenan Malik says exactly this in his recent book ‘Not So Black and White’ (2023) – naming these same figures. Yet, once again, I’m not sure a sense of nationhood or belonging always constitutes a dangerous, right-wing, identity politics of exclusion. Maurice Glasman, in particular, sees the UK working-class as diverse, encompassing different ethnic groups. That’s worth repeating.

I’m not convinced by all the author’s arguments in ‘Cancelled’, although his analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement does provide an interesting, fresh, even sympathetic, appraisal of some of BLM’s ideas – as well as criticism of this group of activists. Readers can judge for themselves.

And there is a fascinating history in ‘Cancelled’ of attempts to censor the Harry Potter books!

Umut Ozkirimli ends his book with some suggestions to improve the state of politics today. He sees a return to genuine community activism that focuses on common goals, rather than adding a hashtag on social media and thinking you’ve achieved progress. Rights-based universalism and equality across differences are still worth defending, he says. There should be both redistribution of wealth – as well as a recognition of social differences and identities. We need to encourage an active participation in politics by all members of society, with a sense of common destiny and equal rights and duties for all. And one thing is clear – the Left must change a lot of its thinking to make real progress.

‘Cancelled’ is an unusual book with some interesting ideas that do deserve consideration. It will interest those on the Left, as well as the Right.

Buy Cancelled: The Left Way Back from Woke by Umut Özkırımlı (Polity, 2023)