Few concepts currently occupy popular consciousness as much as wokism. Whether in the multitude of articles on the subject or in the political sphere (we can think of the numerous members of the National Assembly who label each other with the label), the term is omnipresent.
According to a report from research firm Pollara, 75% of Canadians are familiar with the term. However, only 27% are able to explain what he means. Why do we struggle to define this concept which seems to be everywhere?
It means two things at the same time. For example, the definition that The duty gives us the term clearly demonstrates this bipolarity. Thus, wokism is defined as being aware of social injustices, while it can also designate a form of political correctness.
It is therefore a concept which has two definitions coexisting in parallel and with diametrically opposed connotations. Like Schrödinger’s cat, who was both dead and alive, wokism is in two simultaneous states, both contradictory. But what is it really?
A concept with multiple identities
Although the definition of the term seems to have broadened over time, the word retains its original meaning for many people. This divergence is clearly seen when analyzed from a sociodemographic perspective. A poll carried out by NBC News attempted to study these differences of opinion among our neighbors to the South. For those who use the term, mainly the youngest and most progressive, according to the survey, it is about “having empathy for others and trying to understand their situation”.
For those who denounce it, especially older and more conservative people, it would be “an excuse to clear their conscience and feel like they are changing something”.
Here, according to Pollara, 31% of Canadians believe that the word “woke” has a negative connotation, compared to only 16% who see it as a positive connotation. What is fascinating is that Canadians, however, have a much more positive opinion of causes that can be described as (and claim to be) woke, such as Black Lives Matter (47% have a positive opinion against 12% negative), Pride (49% versus 15%) or feminism (41% versus 11%).
But what can explain why, in the abstract, a concept is perceived negatively while people have a positive perception of its concrete manifestations? The answer is not far away.
A concept recovered
While the first use of the concept of woke for black activist groups can be traced as early as 1923, and the term “woke” appears to have originated in 1962, the negative connotation did not arrive until So much later. Although, according to an analysis by the University of Montreal, 489 articles on the subject were published in Quebec media between 2016 and 2021, the vast majority of them come from a very specific group.
So, on their own, The Montreal Journal And The Quebec Journal are the source of almost 70% of content dealing with wokism. Furthermore, 45% of these articles come from just five columnists, all of whom produce opinion texts and not journalistic content. Finally, of the articles published by these columnists, 96% paint a negative portrait of wokism, sometimes bordering on caricature.
This demonization of Wokism is not a coincidence. When we manage to make an idea a symbol, facts and data lose their relevance. What matters now is what the symbol evokes. We can brandish this scarecrow to delegitimize any action taken by “the other side”. And when, finally, we manage to make this symbol the face of a movement, even of a generation, we can say that it is mission accomplished.
So, is Schrödinger’s cat dead or alive? Is Wokism a vehicle for change or a symbol of the degeneration of our civilizations? Reading the content produced on the subject, one might believe that it is a fierce debate that has still not produced a winner. However, when we really look at the issue, we understand that it is just a good old moral panic.