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Fear of cancel culture has gripped the world, and it turns out to be an old fear in a new get-up. In this incisive new work, Adrian Daub analyzes the global spread of cancel culture discourse as a moral panic, showing that, though its object is fuzzy, talk of cancel culture in global media has become a preoccupation of an embattled liberalism. There are plenty of conservative voices who gin up worries about cancel culture to advance their agendas. But more remarkable perhaps is that it is centrist, even left-leaning, media that have taken up the rallying cry and really defined the outlines of what cancel culture is supposed to be. Media in Western Europe, South America, Russia, and Australia have devoted as much—in some cases more—attention to this supposedly American phenomenon than most US outlets. From French crusades against'le wokisme'via British fables of the'loony left'to a German obsession with campus anecdotes to a global revolt against'gender studies': countries the world over have developed culture war narratives in conflict with the US, and, above all, its universities—narratives that they themselves borrowed from the US. Who exactly is afraid of cancel culture? To trace how various global publics have been so quickly convinced that cancel culture exists and that it poses an existential problem, Daub compares the cancel culture panic to moral panics past, investigating the powerful hold that the idea of'being cancelled'has on readers around the world. A book for anyone wondering how institutions of higher learning in the US have become objects of immense interest and political lightning rods; not just for audiences and voters in the US, but worldwide.

Faut-il interdire le yoga? Doit-on censurer Autant en emporte le vent? Peut-on aimer Harry Potter sans être transphobe? Ces questions, dans le sillage de la « pensée woke », s'invitent aussi bien dans les repas de famille que dans les entreprises et offrent rarement lieu à des débats constructifs. Alors, comment décrypter ces grandes tendances afin de mieux les comprendre et s'y adapter? Cet ouvrage, qui illustre des enjeux de société complexes à travers des exemples issus de la « pop culture », a vocation à aider les lecteurs à former un jugement éclairé sur l'un des sujets les plus emblématiques de notre époque.

In what ways is comedy subversive? This vital new book critically considers the importance of comedy in challenging and redefining our relations to race and racism through the lens of political correctness.By viewing comedy as both a constitutive feature of social interaction and as a necessary requirement in the appraisal of what is often deemed to be ‘politically correct', this book provides an innovative and multidisciplinary approach to the study of comedy and popular culture. In doing so, it engages with the social and cultural tensions inherent to our understandings of political correctness, arguing that comedy can subversively redefine our approach to ‘PC Debates', contestations surrounding free speech and the popular portrayal of political correctness in the media and society. Aided by the work of both Slavoj Žižek and Alenka Zupančič, this unique analysis adopts a psychoanalytic/philosophical framework to explore issues of race, racism and political correctness in the widely acclaimed BBC ‘mockumentary', The Office (UK), as well as a variety of television comedies.Drawing from psychoanalysis, social psychology and philosophy, this book will be highly relevant for postgraduate students and academic researchers studying comedy, race/racism, multiculturalism, political correctness and television/film.

This book explores the nature of political correctness as but one of the faces of today's widespread sociocultural hypocrisy; it is a critique of a phenomenon that constitutes a threat to the Enlightenment hope that humanity might one day achieve maturity. The author identifies political correctness as a drive towards shallowness, anti-intellectualism and self-flagellation – and a culture in which perception is everything. With attention to the emergence and growth of political correctness in a country, Greece, where it can be observed from a bottom-up perspective, this volume demonstrates that although at first glance it appears as a well-intentioned social movement informed by values with which no moral and judicious person could disagree, political correctness actually represents, at best, a distraction from graver concerns; at worst, a manifestation of human foolishness and malevolence. A study of the destruction of honest and rational debate, characterized by trials of intention, often by social media, Political Correctness: A Sociocultural Black Hole will appeal to scholars of sociology and media studies with interests in contemporary political culture.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERUpdated with a new afterword'An excellent take on the lunacy affecting much of the world today. Douglas is one of the bright lights that could lead us out of the darkness.'– Joe Rogan'Douglas Murray fights the good fight for freedom of speech... A truthful look at today's most divisive issues'– Jordan B. PetersonAre we living through the great derangement of our times?In The Madness of Crowds Douglas Murray investigates the dangers of'woke'culture and the rise of identity politics. In lively, razor-sharp prose he examines the most controversial issues of our moment: sexuality, gender, technology and race, with interludes on the Marxist foundations of'wokeness', the impact of tech and how, in an increasingly online culture, we must relearn the ability to forgive.One of the few writers who dares to counter the prevailing view and question the dramatic changes in our society – from gender reassignment for children to the impact of transgender rights on women – Murray's penetrating book, now published with a new afterword taking account of the book's reception and responding to the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, clears a path of sanity through the fog of our modern predicament.

‘Without free speech there is no true thought.'–Jordan Peterson ‘If you're white, this country is one giant safe space.'–Michael Eric Dyson The Munk debate on political correctness Is political correctness an enemy of free speech, sparking needless conflict? Or is it a weapon in the fight for equality, restoring dignity to the downtrodden? How should we talk about the things that matter most in an era of rapid social change? Four thinkers take on one of the most heated debates in the culture wars of the twenty-first century.

Donald Trump is the Thing-that-should-not-be. The man lives, quite literally, in a building serviced by a golden elevator. Somehow, he presented himself as the scourge of the elites. For decades, he built a persona based on the most conspicuous consumption and the crassest of excess — and then he won the presidency on an antiestablishment ticket. The unlikely rise of Donald J Trump exemplifies the political paradox of the twenty-first century. In this new Gilded Age, the contrast between the haves and the have-nots could not be starker. The world's eight richest billionaires control as much wealth as the poorest half of the planet — a disparity of wealth and political power unknown in any previous period. Yet not only have progressives failed to make gains in circumstances that should, on paper, favour egalitarianism and social justice, the angry populism that's prospered explicitly targets ideas associated with the left – and none more so than so-called ‘political correctness'. If Trump – and others like Trump – can turn hostility to PC into a winning slogan, how should the left respond? In the face of a vicious new bigotry, should progressives double-down on identity politics and gender theory? Must they abandon political correctness and everything associated with it to re-connect with a working class they've alienated? Or is there, perhaps, another way entirely? In Trigger Warnings, Jeff Sparrow excavates the development of a powerful new vocabulary against progressive causes. From the Days of Rage to Gamergate, from the New Left to the alt-right, he traces changing attitudes to democracy and trauma, symbolism and liberation, in an exhilarating history of ideas and movements. Challenging progressive and conservative orthodoxies alike, Trigger Warnings is a bracing polemic and a persuasive case for a new kind of politics.

Lo políticamente correcto ya no es solo un empeño de fuerzas emancipadoras y antidiscriminatorias. Domina también gran parte del discurso político y social, a la vez que oculta frecuentemente los problemas verdaderos en cuestiones ética e ideológicamente sensibles. Mediante ejemplos de la política y la vida cotidiana, el volumen pone de manifiesto la gran diversidad y amplitud del fenómeno. Il politicamente corretto non è più solo un'aspirazione di forze emancipatrici e antidiscriminatorie. Controlla anche gran parte del discorso politico e sociale, celando non di rado problemi intrinseci di questioni eticamente e ideologicamente sensibili. Con esempi della sfera politica e quotidiana il volume chiarisce l'ampia estensione del fenomeno. Le politiquement correct n'est plus un simple jeu de forces émancipatoires ou anti-discriminatoires. Il domine actuellement une grande partie du discours politique et social, quitte à faire de l'ombre aux vrais problèmes éthiques ou idéologiquement épineux. À partir d'exemples issus de la vie politique et du quotidien, le volume s'attache à illustrer la diversité des questions qui s'y rattachent.