Episode Details

Wokeness and anti wokeness are inventions of the political right on both sides of the Atlantic. They are confected ideas that are pushed by elite think tank, media and political groups and have been used in different ways since the era of the counter culture in the late 1960s. Their prime advocates claim that 'woke' is some manner of threat to either freedom or common sense, but the reality is far more mundane. The well resourced, organised and funded political right in the US and UK seeks wedge issues and maintains its power in doing so. The threat that the right faced throughout the 20th Century and which it united against in the late 60s onwards was the prospect of widespread social solidarity. Anti wokeism is just the latest post 2008 iteration of this strategy.

*****STOP PRESS*****

I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here:

Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each week

If you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways:

If you want to go ad-free, you can take out a membership here

Or

You can support the podcast via Patreon here

Or you can just say some nice things about it here

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

Website: explaininghistory.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.