Woke is a strange phenomena, but what does it actually mean? Activists and columnists alike declare that being woke is simply being aware of social injustices and challenging racism and sexism. But if that is the case, where are the out and proud woke warriors? Where are the ‘I’m woke’ pin badges and the ‘Being Woke’ clubs for people to join? The more we are told woke is cool, the harder it gets to find someone who self-identifies as woke. So is woke real?
The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) casts doubt on whether it is. The think tank has published new research suggesting that ‘woke’ is essentially the creation of a handful of elite right wingers.
According to the think tank’s director, Ellie Mae O’Hagan, this powerful coterie kicks up a fuss about fictitious ‘wokemobs’ in order to get opponents bogged down in endless debates and distracted from the important task of ‘defending progressive values’. This is a well rehearsed tune. Left wing commentators have long since argued that the ‘culture wars’ are a ‘fabrication’.
There is much to take up here. First off, O’Hagan argues that the ‘wokemob’ is becoming an increasingly dominant part of British political discourse in the 2020s,’ but who other than O’Hagan uses the portmanteau ‘wokemob’? I have read hundreds of articles on woke while researching my latest book and I can honestly say I’ve never come across it once. Stick ‘wokemob’ into Google and the search engine asks: ‘Did you mean: Pokemon?’.