Ateneo - UPO

Woke, Identity politics and cancel culture

This course will analyse the concept of 'wokeism' as a possible new political divide in contemporary political societies. An attempt will be made to understand what wokeism means, what is the link between it and identity politics and whether there is really a conflict between this and freedom of expression or whether it reduces the transformative potential of contemporary societies. The topic will be addressed by analysing liberal, conservative, Marxist and progressive perspectives and discussing concrete cases.

Mimmo Cangiano, Guerre culturali e neoliberalismo, Milano Nottetempo, 2024
Alice Borgna, Tutte storie di maschi bianchi morti, Roma Bari Laterza, 2022; Maddalena Cannito, Eugenia Mercuri, Francesca Tomatis, Cancel Culture e ideologia gender, Rosenber & Sellier Torino, 2022.
Further readings will be available on DIR

The course aims, at a basic level, to provide:
1. (knowledge and understanding): a basic knowledge of the main topics on identity politics, inclusive language, wokeism and cancel culture.;
2. (ability to apply knowledge and understanding): the ability to critically discuss the considered texts;
3. (autonomy of judgement): the ability to exercise good independent judgement;
4. (communication skills): the ability to present acquired knowledge clearly and correctly;
5. (learning skills): a good ability to analyse texts and their application to concrete cases.

At a more advanced level, the course aims to enable the acquisition of:
1. (knowledge and understanding): a thorough knowledge of the main topics on identity politics, inclusive language, wokeism and cancel culture;
2. (ability to apply knowledge and understanding): an advanced ability to reconstruct in a precise and thorough manner the arguments of the authors and texts analysed;
3. (autonomy of judgement): an excellent ability to critically analyse the different theories analysed;
4. (communication skills): an excellent ability to present acquired knowledge clearly and correctly, showing full command of terminology and vocabulary;
5. (learning skills): an excellent ability to analyse texts and to link the topics covered, demonstrating awareness of the issues involved in interpreting the theoretical debates on identity politics, inclusive language, wokeism and cancel culture.

Knowledge and capabilities acquired in the undergraduate studies: 1. Basic Knowledge of politics. 2. Capability of clear and correct exposition of the readings and of one’s own position, both in the discussion and in the papers.

Seminars.

Those who will not be able to attend classes for motivated reasons, will have an oral examination where the whole list of readings will be discussed with the teacher.
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request
specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse
e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-
physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted
the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination
modalities, concerning academic aspects.

Learning will be verified by: 1. participation in class discussion (30%) 2. final paper of 4,000 words to be handed in within two weeks of the end of the course, on a topic agreed with the lecturer (70%).
The evaluation (max 30 points) follows these parameters
1) knowledge and understanding of the main topics covered: 18 points out of 30 (sufficiency);
2) ability to present the knowledge acquired in a clear and correct manner: 6 points out of 30;
3) ability to make connections between the topics covered and to explore them critically and independently: 6 out of 30 points.

Wokeism and idetity politics; 2- Cancel culture and class war; 3- Freedom of speech and wokeism; 4- Case studies

In order to attain the knowledge and corresponding competences at the basic level, students will have to demonstrate that they
1. (knowledge and understanding): have acquired a good knowledge of the debate on identity politics, inclusive language, wokeism and cancel culture;
2. (ability to apply knowledge and understanding): to recognise the main lines of argument and the conceptual structure of the texts and theories analysed;
3. (autonomy of judgement): being able to correctly compare the different themes taken into consideration;
4. (communication skills): being able to present the acquired knowledge clearly and correctly;
5. (learning ability): having acquired a good ability to analyse texts and to connect the topics covered.

For the attainment of an advanced level one must demonstrate:
1. (knowledge and understanding): have acquired a thorough knowledge of the debate on identity politics, inclusive language, wokeism and cancel culture ;
2. (ability to apply knowledge and understanding): to be able to reconstruct the theoretical-political debates accurately and in depth and to recognise the different methodologies and interpretative perspectives adopted;
3. (autonomy of judgement): to be able to critically compare the different theories analysed, also in order to elaborate an autonomous vision with respect to contemporary case studies;
4. (communication skills): to be able to present the acquired knowledge clearly and correctly, showing full command of the terminology and vocabulary of the discipline
5. (learning ability): to have acquired a good ability to analyse texts and to link the topics dealt with, demonstrating awareness of the problems connected with the interpretation of texts and the ability to carry out individual in-depth studies.