Why Woke 2.0 is taking on Trump and establishment politics | Radical Thinking with Aditya Chakrabortty
Summary
Nezrine Malik discusses the rise of racialized politics in the West, arguing that immigration is the primary issue masking broader economic and systemic failures. She critiques the limitations of "woke 1.0" and representation, advocating for a more global, class-based approach to identity politics. Malik also analyzes the Gaza conflict, asserting that Western complicity in the genocide has exposed the bankruptcy of the liberal international order and triggered a significant political backlash among minority voters.
Topics discussed
Sponsor: Stamps.com
Introduction: Identity politics and immigration
Guest intro: Nesrine Malik and her work
Dealing with criticism of 'talking down' Britain
The 'background hum' of complaints about her identity
Writing out of love for the country
Upbringing in Sudan and the 'outsider' perspective
Embracing the unknowable and looking anew
Value of a non-colonial heart perspective
Growing up in the 'global majority' vs the West
Comparing Sudan and UK: Due process and deportations
The 'outsider' defining current politics
The turn against globalization in Britain
The initial pivot towards the West and modernity
Internet and soft power: Navigating Western societies
Failure to connect complex political phenomena
Blaming the immigrant for economic erosion
Immigration as the 'kerosene' of politics
Is Britain more racist now? Political rhetoric
Racialized discourse on immigration
The 'uniform culture' argument and permission to be racist
Conservative lines of inquiry on immigration
Kemi Badenoch: 'Best country to be black'
The 'never good enough' dynamic and brown PMs
Institutional and systemic racism: Hard to explain
Proving systemic racism vs individual blame
The route to power for brown politicians
Unacceptability of demanding change from the texture of lives
The silence after Black Lives Matter and 'Woke 1.0'
Personal feelings: Disorientating and depleting
The 'electric surge' of understanding and frazzling
Not seeing the revolution coming: Sudan and BLM
Similarities between Arab Spring, Sudan, and BLM
The short arc of the BLM moment
The backlash: From 'abolish police' to 'idiots'
BLM's impact on popular culture and establishment refusal
Left-wing critics of identity politics (Ken, Malik)
Critiques: Universalism vs Anti-capitalism
Fair criticisms: Elite tendencies and statues
Patronizing 'Black excellence' and 'Black girl magic'
Unrealistic purity demands in identity politics
Perception of success vs actual systemic change
Moving beyond 'Woke 2.0' framings
Identity as being on the 'sharp end' of capital
Defining identity through state and capital relations
Demographic change: Mixed race and ethnic minorities
Gaza as the moment demographic change 'bites'
Drivers of the backlash: Scale, tech, and ethnicity
The pace of destruction and lack of alibis
The brutal lesson: Human rights not universal
The 'rules-based order' and its unsaid principles
Institutions of the liberal order and the 'deal'
The end of 'sexing up' dossiers and Iraq war arguments
Gaza exposing the bankruptcy of the liberal order
Backlash against Democrats and centre-left parties
Ed Miliband's performance and settler sanctions
Accelerated de facto annexation and settler attacks
The 'punch drunk' assault and license to act
Need for a material break to resolve public revulsion
Next Democrat must disavow strategic brotherhood with Israel
Electoral loss vs material break: Conceptual difficulty
Mental injury from hypocrisy and euphemism
Media silence and unmoved response to Gaza
Labeling protests as 'hate marches' and 'pro-terrorist'
The right to express political views and demand change
Sectarian framing of the Muslim vote
Realizing the media system is riddled with Islamophobia
Value of life: Israeli vs Palestinian intelligibility
Global presentation of Muslim-majority places
New generation of immigrants and demographic change
The 'chest out' attitude of the new generation
Capaciousness of Muslim identity: Cultural and religious
Identity as indigenous and native to the host country
Art, culture, and journalism from the new generation
Seeing the world from a global, not parochial, view
The power of big coalitions and accepting limits
Radical question: What would you do as a billionaire?
Answer: Fixing the education system
Summary: Media, politics, and the cost of ignoring minorities
Outro and credits
Sponsor: Series by Marriott
Sponsor: Verizon Fios
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