Left Is Not Woke

This event occurred on:  This lecture will discuss the ways in which contemporary voices who consider themselves leftist have abandoned philosophical ideas which are crucial to any left-wing standpoint: a commitment to universalism, a firm distinction between power and justice, and a belief in the possibility of progress. These ideas are connected and have their roots in the much-maligned Enlightenment. Most critiques of contemporary positions on the so-called woke left have been made from liberal, centrist, or rightwing perspectives. Neiman, by contrast, situates her work squarely on the left, and argues that today’s left has deprived itself of concepts which are crucial for resisting the right-wing lurch.