“Woke” originally meant being alert to injustice, whether it be racism, inequality, exploitation, or the ways power harms those with the least protection. It has since been turned into a term of abuse, used to mock empathy, deny injustice, and delegitimise calls for fairness. In the language of political-economy and Funding the Future, “woke” has become a shorthand for caring about other people.
First, being woke is about awareness. It is recognising that poverty, discrimination, environmental damage, and exclusion are not accidents but consequences of policy and power. To be woke is to see how illicit financial flows deprive countries of revenue, how austerity weakens public services, and how inequality damages health and democracy. Awareness is the beginning of accountability.
Second, the attack on “woke” is political. When those who challenge injustice are ridiculed, an attempt is being made to silence debate. Calling concern for social security, climate policy, fair taxation, social justice, gender equality or anti-racism “woke nonsense” is a way of avoiding responsibility. It is rhetoric designed to defend privilege.
Third, “anti-woke” politics often accompany the politics of destruction. When neoliberal policies create insecurity and stagnation, anger must be redirected. Culture wars deliberately replace economic debate. The blame is shifted to minorities or campaigners rather than to policies that underfund public services or favour rent extraction.
Fourth, being woke is not about moral vanity. It is about recognising interdependence. Health depends on housing, income, education, and environment. Democracy depends on fairness and inclusion. An economy that ignores these realities fails. Inequality is destructive to everyone, not just those who suffer discrimination the most.
Finally, in the Funding the Future sense, to be woke is simply to care enough to ask whether our economy serves people. If “woke” means valuing social security, fair taxation, strong public services, environmental responsibility, and dignity for all, then it names the first step towards politics for people and a politics of care.
“Woke” is therefore not an insult. It is awareness of injustice and the determination to correct it, and that is a necessary quality in any society that hopes to build a fair and sustainable economy.
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The “Anti-Woke” agenda is a psy-op, in the vein of the climate denial agenda developed by the Koch’s, but much more virulent. Anti-Woke is a wedge issue; it’s designed to be just that. There was a memo leaked from the infamous Tufton Street lobbying group some time ago, stating that Trans people are the next wedge issue. Look how successful that has been. Young trans people are killing themselves in the wake of that. The anti-Woke agenda is the same thing. Being anti-woke is a lucrative pipeline to follow, from comedians complaining about cancel culture to right-wing influencers talking about a conspiracy of control and silencing by the Left. The Anti-Woke agenda is referenced in the Epstein files. He wanted to combat the Me Too movement (I wonder why), amongst other things. That tells you all you need to know about Anti-Woke voices. Useful idiots for the rich and powerful, putting forward strawman arguments as to why freedom is under threat.
Thanks for this Richard. The vitriolic rubbish in the media about ” woke” now makes sense to me.
Language: its use and abuse. Short cuts (& woke is one of them), allow the liars, psycopaths, fascists etc to oppose without opposing.
Fairness, justice, kindness, empathy. It was a mistake to use one word (woke) as a collective description. The liars etc would never say they were against justice, or fairness (who wants to be pro-unfairness?). The problem is, woke gives a lever to those that favour a horrible world with horrible outcomes – without them saying it in concrete terms.
Same problem with “left wing”. I favour, clean rivers and seas, fairly priced energy, health for all and a good education for all & all this, wherever possible, without the intervention of markets. Some imbeciles would lable the list: “left wing” thus allowing for quick condemnation. Strip the left wing collective label out &….: which imbecile is in favour of turd filled rivers? or very expensive energy? wot? no hands? Tut tut.
Dont…. use….. shortcuts. Be specific.
I disasgree
We need both
There is a video on this tomorrow
I have always felt there is a need to reclaim woke, and both my sons agree, very strongly. They wanted me to make it.
A good idea, I look forward to the video. We need a pejorative word for being anti woke. Gammon is one of my favourites but doesn’t convey the ignorance of the anti-woke brigade. It has to be hard-hitting. The Democrats tried it with MAGA but that backfired. Answers on a postcard please.
It’s woke
That’s it
I was wondering if you might find the time to do an entry for “Sovereign Wealth Fund” We are always told Norway has built up a huge fund with income from gas sales in contradistinction to the UK, but I saw an interview with the Norwegian Prime Minister recently and he was talking about increasing spending on the military and all the “hard choices” this would entail for other areas without ever mentioning the famous fund. My understanding of MMT leads to me suppose that the government can’t save money like a household, Warren Mosler says the government “neither has or doesn’t have” any money so can a Sovereign Wealth Fund exist and if so how and why wouldn’t a government that had one spend it rather than make cuts? Thank-you.
I have added it to my list…
Thanks for suggesting it
BUT that does not mean it is out tomorrow
I hate the term ‘woke’ to be honest because of how its used as a cosh by the Right. Also, being a white dude I have no real ownership of it – it feels a bit false adopting it to be honest.
However, the word has an honourable origin in African-American perceptions of injustice. I’ve had to get my head around this somewhat because I don’t want to be ‘culturally acquisitive’ of a another section of the population’s suffering.
However, one thing I noted here a while back was that since 2010 especially, the widening inequality and entrenched powerful position of capital means that in the future, and maybe right at this moment, ordinary people – all colours, creeds, whatever are essentially slaves or chattels now or on our way to being so.
This means that ‘woke’ can in my opinion at least be a concept adopted by all economically oppressed peoples and be something that binds us together.
So, I’m all for it on that basis because as a white person I think a hell of a lot of us are going to find out what it means to be black.
We’re moving closer on this one.
The word ‘woke’ was coined by William Melvin Kelley. It is his expression for the particular situation of black USA slaves and their necessary awakening.
Kelley was a formidable writer. His ‘A Different Drummer’ is one of the great C20th novels, both in terms of subject and style, and possibly the finest about Black issues. A must read.
UK and USA msm and politicians have traduced the singular meaning of ‘woke’. It is an example of ongoing settler imperialism.
In the hands of the right, ‘woke’ has become just an all-purpose term of abuse that saves the users the bother of providing reasons for their objections to anti-racism, feminism, etc., so they don’t have to admit they are racist, sexist, etc.