We are threatened by a creeping movement towards global fascism. But more scarily, argues cultural commentator and moral philosopher, Professor Susan Neiman, fascism is unified and the left is not. A small but growing faction of the left - the woke left - abandoned enlightenment ideals and replaced them with an untenable set of principles. In this article based on her new book, ‘Left is not woke’, Neiman lays out where the left is, how it got here and how it can reembrace universal justice to unify and fight the evils of this world.

Susan Neiman will be delivering a solo talk on ‘Left is not woke’ at the upcoming Howthelightgetsin Festival September 23^rd/24^th 2023.

Let us mince no words: we are threatened by an international movement towards fascism. The solidarity between far-right nationalists suggests that their beliefs are only marginally based on the idea that Hungarians/Norwegians/Jews/Germans/AngloSaxons/Hindus are the best of all possible tribes.  What unites them is the principle of tribalism itself: you will only truly connect with those who belong to your tribe, and you need have no deep commitments to anyone else. It’s a bitter piece of irony that today’s tribalists today find it easier to make common cause than those whose commitments stem from universalism, whether they recognize it or not.