The New Puritans – book Review by Vicki Robinson
Andrew Doyle does something really interesting in his latest book. He defines a movement that has hitherto evaded attempts to pin it down.
Let’s face it, when someone tries to examine or question the ideology becoming increasingly dominant in many Western institutions, they are often told that it does not exist. Any term used to describe it – “wokeness”, “the successor ideology” and “cancel culture”, being just a few examples – is apparently incorrect or a figment of right-wing imagination. Such accusations of paranoia are infuriating, especially given the way that jargon and multiple meanings are used to create confusion, something Doyle examines closely in this book.
In writing The New Puritans, Doyle has essentially snuck up behind the movement, thrown a big net over it and dragged it in for questioning under a bright spotlight. He does this through the power of words.
His opening paragraphs quoting an enraged friend are both hilarious and shocking in their illustration of how an intelligent person can become detached from the reality in front of them. Throughout the book, Doyle uses humour to lighten his subject matter, a helpful device given the complexity of what he is dealing with. It also gives him a clear authorial voice. As I read, I could easily imagine him sitting at his laptop, raising his eyebrow as he typed out another arch observation.
Doyle’s approach is twofold. Firstly, he explores the intellectual background of the movement, tracing it from the emergence of wokeness in early 20th century African American culture, to its development out of post-structuralism, post-colonialism and postmodernism. In doing so, he utilises Helen Pluckrose and Janes Lindsay’s work, particularly their concept of applied postmodernism.
Secondly, he roots it firmly in history. The ideological capture we are witnessing is nothing new. It follows very similar patterns to the frenzies of conformity that broke out around accusations of witchcraft in Salem and other areas. After explaining how the hysterical visions of young people were accepted by their wider community, Doyle summarises:
The willingness of the villagers to believe the girls’ visions serves as a reminder of the human susceptibility to false narratives, particularly if they are more readily comprehensible than complicated truths. When bad ideas are allowed to spread unchecked they take on an illusion of incontrovertibility, and when figures of authority are captured by dangerous ideologies, resistance becomes a feat of courage that few will dare to attempt.’
Doyle is careful to avoid generalising, stating clearly that ‘the new puritans, in truth, bear little resemblance to the puritans of old’. He also acknowledges the successes of postmodernist thinking, along with the achievements of US civil rights. It is the recurring patterns of human behaviour that interest him.
Most importantly, Doyle redefines the movement, calling it new puritanism. It is a powerful approach. In rejecting previous labels, he gives himself the necessary distance to pin the ideology down and point out its foundations and strategies. New puritanism does not float above our society as a free-ranging idea; it comes from our history, culture and thought.
The parallels with history are indeed striking. The religious changes brought about by the English Reformation in the 1500s were followed by puritanism in the 1600s. Similarly, the rapid secularisation developing through the 20th century is being followed by a puritanical panic today. Perhaps the uncertainty created by sudden upheaval leaves people vulnerable to ideology.
In this, Doyle’s analysis resonates with that of Paul Kingsnorth, a very different, increasingly theological thinker. Kingsnorth wrote in UnHerd earlier this year:
‘In all the time I have spent with people who live in genuinely rooted cultures … I’ve generally been struck by two things. One is that rooted people are harder to control … The second observation is that people don’t tend to talk much about their “identity” — or even think about it — unless it is under threat. The louder you have to talk about it, it seems, the more you have probably lost.’
I for one would love to see the two thinkers debate the issue. It would surely lead to some interesting contrasts and perspectives.
The book left me with further questions. One, in particular, stood out. Wokeness came out of the African American experience and, similar to feminist consciousness-raising, aimed to increase awareness of prejudice amongst those on the receiving end of it. Why then has it morphed into a kind of neo-puritanism, a religion originally brought to America by settlers from the British Isles? Such rapid changes say a lot about the people driving it today.
Andrew Doyle’s The New Puritans is an excellent analysis of the ideas gaining increasing traction in Western society. But really, it’s about the power of words. Language is intrinsic to the human experience; we need it to understand and examine our ideas and our world. Without it, we cannot challenge authority. When speech and writing is free, we are free. That is the true power of this important book.
Vicki Robinson