Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity―and Why This Harms Everybody

Concepts such as gender, decolonization, privilege, and fat-shaming—once discussed mainly in academia—are now actively shaping how we perceive everyday life. But where did these ideas come from? The roots of these concepts lie in critical theories that developed within postmodernism and focus on analyzing power, knowledge, and truth. Nothing escapes the attention of activists who seek to expose and eliminate any form of oppression—whether in sex, history, medicine, or architecture. Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay believe that, despite the drive to make the world more just, critical theories with their almost religious devotion and dichotomous thinking may threaten both academia and society as a whole. “Cynical Theories” offers a detailed analysis of the key ideas behind “activist science,” revealing its internal logic and contradictions. This book will help you better understand the contemporary intellectual climate, figure out the motives of participants in cultural conflicts, and not get lost in the complicated topics of these debates.