https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/how-to-defeat-woke-rufo-vs-hanania?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
This year saw the publication of two very important books, which are bound to shape intellectual discourse and (hopefully) public policy in coming years. Richard Hanania’s The Origins of Woke and Chris Rufo’s America’s Cultural Revolution are the Tech Right’s response to the woke onslaught of the past decade. The two authors made their name on Twitter/X by capitalizing on anti-woke sentiment, and each ended up influencing the American right-wing despite having no previous affiliation with the Republican party.
Both books are excellent, and should be read by anyone who wants to understand the culture war. Both authors – especially Rufo, but also Hanania through CSPI – are activists and not mere writers. They deserve credit for taking the fight to the Left and being viciously attacked while doing so.
This review will compare and contrast the two books, providing a critical appraisal of their main points – while keeping in mind that both are fundamentally on the right track. I will not describe the contents of the books in detail – for that, you can read Eric Kaufmann’s excellent review.
Culture or politics?
Juxtaposing the two books helps to answer a fundamental question: how do we change society – through political or institutional/cultural capture? Obviously, both approaches are needed; after all, the left took both approaches. But at this moment of leftist hegemony, where should the right focus its efforts? In science there is a distinction between ultimate and proximate causes; if politics is downstream of culture, as the late Andrew Breitbart used to say, then efforts should be concentrated on the ultimate cause, culture. But if civil rights law is the ultimate cause of woke culture, then just changing legislation will be enough.
My own position can be summarized as follows: Rufo beats Hanania. Politics is downstream of culture, and not the other way round. Of course, the two books are more complementary than they are antagonistic, and neither claims that wokeness is singularly caused by politics or culture. However, Rufo clearly emphasizes the causal role of culture on politics, while Hanania clearly states that political decisions ultimately shape culture.