Discussion Group 3: Postmodernism & Its Activist Offshoots

This session will discuss postmodernism and its activist offshoots: postcolonial theory, queer theory, critical race theory, postmodern feminism, postmodern gender studies, etc.

Questions to be considered: What is postmodernism—in theory and in practice? How does it differ from traditional liberalism? What is its stance toward reason, science, evidence, objective knowledge, the Enlightenment? Does it share any premises with the post-truth political or religious right? To what extent is it prevalent in academia? in K–12 private schools? in K–12 public schools? What’s going on with the right-wing political reaction to it? Is liberal scholar John McWhorter a traitor to his race in opposing it? Should political comedian Bill Maher, who also opposes it, be canceled?

REFERENCES (not required reading):

Postmodernism: https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

Postcolonial theory: http://puneresearch.com/media/data/issues/5974e585de19a.pdf

Queer theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_theory

Critical race theory: https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory

Postmodern feminism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern_feminism

Postmodern gender studies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_studies#Post-modern_influence

Critiques from Liberal Scholars:

• ·       John McWhorter, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (New York: Portfolio / Penguin, 2021), https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Racism-Religion-Betrayed-America-ebook/dp/B095JLK96B/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0&qid=1646092539&refinements=p_27%3AJohn+McWhorter&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1
• ·       Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay, Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—And Why This Harms Everybody (Durham, NC: Pitchstone, 2020), https://www.amazon.com/Cynical-Theories-Scholarship-Everything-Identity-ebook/dp/B08BGCM5QZ/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0&qid=1646092947&refinements=p_27%3AHelen+Pluckrose&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1

Discussion Groups are moderated forums with pre-selected topics. Anyone who wishes to participate in the civil discussions is welcome to do so. The groups nominally represent different geographical locations and will morph back into geographically located in-person discussions when we can do so, for now we meet using zoom. They are currently held every Thursday. The topic for each discussion is announced in advance, sometimes with recommended reading.