we have never been woke

Book Announcement: We Have Never Been Woke

I am thrilled to be able to officially announce that my book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite has been acquired by Princeton University Press.

Huge shoutout to my agent, Andrew Stuart. Much love to PUP Executive Editor Meagan Levinson, who was able to put together an aggressive bid in a highly-competitive auction for the rights to the book. I am also deeply grateful to the anonymous peer reviewers at the publishing houses we sent the proposal to, whose strong votes of confidence in the project (and helpful feedback) helped us arrive at this point.

And now, I have a request of you, dear reader. As Yashar Ali explains here, the best way to support an author is not just to buy the book after it comes out — but to pre-order. It makes a huge difference in terms of the impact of the book to have strong day-one sales.

Although my book is not yet available for pre-order, anyone interested in pre-ordering the book can subscribe below to get email updates on this project, including occasional essays exploring key themes and ideas of the text.

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If you are interested in buying several copies of the book, hit me up and I can put you in touch with the Princeton University Press team about potential discounts.

February 2024 Update: I am pleased to announce that the book is now officially in production. Pre-order information should be coming soon(ish). Once the book is officially available for pre-order, I plan to do as many interviews and talks as I can. I’ll be writing essays exploring key themes of the text. My publicists will be sending out excerpts and review copies for editors and writers at various publications. If you are interested in

  1. Having me out for a talk or other event
  2. Doing an interview on the book or its themes
  3. Reviewing the book for an academic journal or media outlet
  4. Running an excerpt from the book in your publication
  5. Receiving an original essay on the themes of the book for your publication

Hit me up using the contact information in the footer below. Let’s get things on the schedule now before my schedule fills up!

Description

The rise of the ‘knowledge economy’ has empowered a new constellation of elites tied to fields like law, consulting, media, entertainment, finance, education, administration, science and technology. They traffic primarily in data, ideas, rhetoric and images instead of physical goods or services. Drawing from Bourdieu, we can refer to them as ‘symbolic capitalists.’

I’m a symbolic capitalist. There’s a good chance you are too.

One defining trait of symbolic capitalists is our commitment to social justice. We are the Americans most likely to self-identify as feminists, antiracists or allies to LGBTQ people. Politically, we’re overwhelmingly aligned with America’s primary ‘left’ party.

Nonetheless, inequalities in the U.S. have grown increasingly pronounced as symbolic capitalists have risen in affluence and influence. Symbolic capitalists are, themselves, among the primary beneficiaries of these inequalities and social justice discourse is increasingly mobilized to justify them. The ‘losers’ in the knowledge economy are portrayed as deserving their lot because they think, feel or say the ‘wrong’ things about race, gender and sexuality. Elites’ bids for more power and status, meanwhile, are increasingly bound up with their egalitarian bona fides.

Understanding this state of affairs requires a deep and unflinching look into the history and political economy of symbolic capitalists. Our professions have, from the outset, defined themselves as altruistic in nature — oriented towards higher principles or the greater good. In truth, however, we have never been woke.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Inspiration | Orwell’s Demon | Overview | Minority Report | (Analytic) Inequality | Coda: We Have Never Been Woke

Chapter 1: On Wokeness

Symbolic Capital(ists) | ‘Woke’ | Hegemony and False Consensus | The Symbolic Mainstream | Symbolic Conservatives | The Anti-Woke | Wokeness, Faith, Insecurity | The Banality of ‘Wokeness’ | Ideals and Interests | Coda: Birth of the Symbolic Professions

Chapter 2: The Great Awokening(s)

A Major Shift | Point of Origin | E Pluribus Unum | Alternative Facts | Not the First, Not the Last | The First Awokening | The Second Awokening | The Third Awokening | The Fourth Awokening | The Next Awokening | Elite Overproduction | Diverted Movements | The More Things Change | Social Justice Sinecures | Theories of Failure | Culture Wars | Coda: White Liberals

Chapter 3: Symbolic Domination

Winners Take All | Empire of Signs | Inequalities in Context | Disposable Labor(ers) | Symbolic Hubs | Sex and Symbolic Capital | Coda: Rich, White and Blue

Chapter 4: Post-Materialist Politics

Blue Cities Are the Problem | Sophisticated Accumulation | A Tempest in a Teapot | The Curse of Knowledge | Consequences of Consolidation | Disciplined Minds | Coda: ‘Woke’ Capitalism

Chapter 5: Totemic Capital(ism)

A New Moral Culture | Victimhood as Status | Stigmata | Different Boats | Totemic Capital | (Mis)Appropriating Totems | The Totemic Mystique | The Wrong Bodies | Backwards in Heels | Differently (En)Abled | The Rich Get Richer | He Who Lives by the Sword… | Coda: Accounting for Taste

Chapter 6: Mystification of Social Processes

Tall Tales | Noblesse Oblige | Class/ Cancelled | Invalidating Inconvenient Perspectives | Critique or Alibi? | Doing Bad, Feeling Good | Coda: Babies and Bathwater

Conclusion

Taking Stock | Sans Frontieres | Tentative Answers, New Questions | Beyond Belief


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