Published in late 2024 by Princeton University Press, my first book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite has been a smashing critical success. Media coverage of the book has been extraordinary. Sales have also been quite strong too.
The publisher made a big bet on the book with a massive initial print run of the hardcover edition, distributed widely across the country and around the world. Their faith paid off: the first editions sold out, forcing Princeton University Press to commission subsequent printings to keep up with demand. The PDF and audio versions of the book have been performing quite well too.
Interest has been so strong and consistent that I’ve been touring near-constantly since the release, in the U.S. and abroad, to discuss the book and its themes.
In order to maximize access to the work, PUP has now launched a paperback edition of the book with a refreshed cover and a lower price point. The paperback also includes a new preface, where I reflect on the impact and reception of the work to date. And in virtue of being physically smaller, lighter and more flexible, it’s even easier to read the paperback on-the-go.
For those who have not yet picked up a copy of the book, there is no better time than the present!
Paperback/ Hardcover
E-Book
Audiobook (narrated by yours truly)
For those who want to read the book but are unwilling or unable to purchase it right now, information on how to get the book in your preferred format via local or college libraries is available here. You may also be able to get a discounted used copy via AbeBooks here.
To everyone who have already purchased and/ or read the hardcover version: thanks so much for your support! If you’d like to read the new preface too, I’ve reproduced it for you below.
To all: happy reading!
Introduction to the Paperback Edition
We Have Never Been Woke is full of information that will be novel to specialists and laymen alike. It will push readers to see phenomena they may have taken for granted in a new light. In addition to conveying novel insights, the book seeks to provide intellectual frameworks and social permission that empower readers to constructively discuss realities they already perceive but couldn’t (or wouldn’t) put into words. The text was designed to speak to the moment, but it was also written for posterity. It aspired to provide conceptual tools for thinking through an uncertain future.
That’s what this book is. There are also many things this book is not.
This is not a book about “wokeness.” It’s a book about the rise of a new elite formation – symbolic capitalists — and the ways they mobilize social justice discourse in their struggles over status, resources and opportunities.
There will be no attempt to taxonomize thinkers or genealogize ideas in the pages that follow. No ink will be spilled evaluating the moral rightness or epistemological soundness of “woke” views. For the purposes of this book, I am totally uninterested in “beliefs” or “ideas” per se. I’m interested in the social life of moral and political claims about social justice – how they are mobilized in the public sphere, by whom, and in the service of which apparent ends.
The book focuses tightly on phenomena that can be observed “from the outside”: allocations of resources and opportunities, how and where people live, social ties and interactions, what people say and how they behave. Trying to determine who “truly” believes in social justice (and on what basis) is largely irrelevant to my project. I take symbolic capitalists’ sincerity for granted precisely so that I can sidestep discussions like these.
Somewhat controversially, the book doesn’t even define “woke.” How readers interpret the word “woke” is ultimately orthogonal to my scholarly project. Again, this is not a book about “wokeness.” It’s a book charting how the growing affluence and influence of symbolic capitalists changed the contours of inequality in the U.S. — and the means through which these inequalities were maintained and justified.
Although the book does provide trenchant analyses of social problems, it does not provide action steps, policy guidance, or life advice. As a bit of a spoiler, the book ends on a willfully ambivalent (and perhaps for many readers, unsatisfying) note. I wanted to deny readers a sense of catharsis or any illusion that there are easy answers. I want readers to sit with the weight of these problems and to, themselves, really think about the implications and application for their own lives, communities and institutions. Structurally, it also seemed like a non-sequitur to produce a century-spanning survey of the symbolic professions that somehow culminates in… a list of suggestions for effective social justice advocacy.
The “what should we do?” question is important. In many respects, it’s the question. But I suspect that the answer to that question is not going to come in the form of simple and universalistic statements. It’ll be context dependent and complicated. And, frankly, there are others who may be better equipped to design and implement solutions than me. I wanted this book to set an agenda for research, discussion and policy. But I also wanted to be humble about where I can make a big contribution, and where others might do better.
The book and its arguments have many implications for activist groups and political parties. Since the 2024 election, many have drawn from the text to contextualize why things shook out as they did and where things are likely to go from here. I have, myself, produced some essays to help readers work through some of these questions:
- A Graveyard of Bad Election Narratives
- The Cultural Contradictions of the Anti-Woke
- It’s the (Knowledge) Economy, Stupid
This book, however, was not intended to explain the 2024 race or provide a roadmap for the #Resistance. We Have Never Been Woke was written and published in advance of Donald Trump’s reelection and models a general sense of indifference towards the fortunes of any particular political candidate, party or platform.
Some have resented that this book is not political per se. I believe this frustration is misguided. In the same way that I’m not well-suited to tell you how to live a good life, I’m also not a political strategist. As I explained in the immediate aftermath of the 2024 election, the most typical consequences of scientists trying to position their research as moral and political “interventions” are:
- Lowered quality of work
- Reduced public trust
- Blowback against the organizations, causes and professions we’re affiliated with
My goal in this book was to answer the questions laid out in the introduction as accurately, comprehensively, concisely, and fairly as I could.
It will be up to you, the reader, to determine what to do with the answers provided in this book.
To make the text as short, accessible, and compelling as possible, there were a few tough cuts we had to make. For instance, there is no literature review in the pages that follow, detailing how others conceptualized the elite constellation I refer to as “symbolic capitalists” and the transformations that ushered them into power. Because many expressed eagerness to learn more on these topics after the book’s release, I produced two online resources providing this context to interested readers:
There were also a few things, in retrospect, that I wish I’d spent more talking about in the body of the text. It’s easy to identify places where I could (or should) have elaborated more or explained things in a different way from the questions, comments and misunderstandings that have consistently arisen while touring and engaging with journalists, scholars and layfolk about the book. Any future edition of the book will likely include substantial tweaks to better preempt these questions and concerns. In the meantime, I published an online resource addressing some of the most common and/ or important questions audiences have offered.
On Wealth and Power
- Why focus so intensely on symbolic capitalists for understanding contemporary society? Aren’t the politicians, military leaders, et al. the people with real power?
- What about the actual capitalists? What about the millionaires and the billionaires? Aren’t they the folks we should be focusing on to understand social problems?
- Aren’t Trump, his “deplorable” followers and his greedy financial backers the real obstacle to social justice? Isn’t the focus on “us” a distraction?
On Wokeness
- We Have Never Been Woke doesn’t define “woke.” This seems like a problem…
- We Have Never Been Woke does not seem to care about “wokeness” per se. What’s up with that?
- If the book is not about “wokeness,” why use this (highly-polarizing) word in the title?
On the Big Questions
- Are you a cynic? Doesn’t the book’s presentation of human nature run contrary to the idea that symbolic capitalists could or would better embody their expressed ideals?
- I’m a symbolic capitalist. You’ve sold me on your basic argument. Now what?
All said, the reception of We Have Never Been Woke has been encouraging and humbling. I’ve been gratified to see that the book largely received in the spirit intended — across the moral and political landscape — in America and abroad. It’s been a privilege to think with readers about how the rise of the rise of the symbolic professions has transformed U.S. politics, economics and culture, and to wrestle over the historical, current and ideal future role of symbolic capitalists in society. I look forward to seeing that conversation evolve and expand with the release of this paperback edition.
Thank you, sincerely, for your interest in my work. I hope you find this book generative, informative and compelling. And stay tuned for my next project, Those People, slated for publication with Princeton University Press in late 2026.