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{{short description|Far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory}} | {{short description|Far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory}} | ||
{{redirect|Cultural Marxism| |
{{redirect|Cultural Marxism|the Marxist approach to social theory and cultural studies|Marxist cultural analysis}} | ||
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} | {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}} | ||
{{use American English|date=October 2020}} | {{use American English|date=October 2020}} | ||
{{Antisemitism sidebar|Canards}} | {{Antisemitism sidebar|Canards}} | ||
'''Cultural Marxism''' is a ] ] ] that misrepresents ] (especially the ]) as being responsible for modern ] movements, ], and ]. The conspiracy theory posits that there is an ongoing and intentional academic and intellectual effort to subvert ] via a planned ] that undermines the supposed ]{{refn|group=note|"Christian values" in this context primarily refers to the Conservative concept of ].}} of ] and seeks to replace them with culturally ] values.<ref name="Jay 2010">{{cite magazine |last=Jay |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Jay |title=Dialectic of Counter-Enlightenment: The Frankfurt School as Scapegoat of the Lunatic Fringe |url=http://cms.skidmore.edu/salmagundi/backissues/168-169/martin-jay-frankfurt-school-as-scapegoat.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124045123/http://cms.skidmore.edu/salmagundi/backissues/168-169/martin-jay-frankfurt-school-as-scapegoat.cfm |archive-date=November 24, 2011 |magazine=Salmagundi |date=Fall 2010 |volume=168/169 |pages=30–40 |issn=0036-3529 |jstor=41638676 |via=cms.Skidmore.edu}}</ref><ref name="Jamin">{{cite book |last=Jamin |first=Jérôme |title=The Post-War Anglo-American Far Right: A Special Relationship of Hate |publisher=] |location=London, England |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-137-39619-8 |editor-last=Shekhovtsov |editor-first=Anton |editor-link=Anton Shekhovtsov |pages=84–103 |chapter=Cultural Marxism and the Radical Right |doi=10.1057/9781137396211.0009 |doi-broken-date=December 10, 2024 |editor-last2=Jackson |editor-first2=Paul}}</ref><ref name="Richardson 2015">{{cite book |last1=Richardson |first1=John E. |editor1-last=Copsey |editor1-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Richardson |editor2-first=John E. |title=Cultures of Post-War British Fascism |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-317-53937-7 |chapter='Cultural-Marxism' and the British National Party: A transnational discourse |date=2015 |page=}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref name="Jeffries 2016">{{cite book |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |year=2016 |title=Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School |location=London, England |publisher=] |pages=6–11 |isbn=978-1-78478-568-0}}</ref><ref name="Braune 2019"/> | |||
A contemporary revival of the ] propaganda term "]", the contemporary version of the conspiracy theory originated in the United States during the 1990s.{{r|Woods 2019|Jay 2010}}<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Busbridge |first1=Rachel |last2=Moffitt |first2=Benjamin |last3=Thorburn |first3=Joshua |date=June 2020 |title=Cultural Marxism: Far-Right Conspiracy Theory in Australia's Culture Wars |journal=Social Identities |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=722–738 |publisher=] |location=London, England |doi=10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822 |s2cid=225713131 |issn=1350-4630}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|In its dominant iteration, the US-originating conspiracy holds that a small group of Marxist critical theorists have conspired to destroy Western civilisation by taking over key cultural institutions.}} Originally found only on the far-right political fringe, the term began to enter mainstream discourse in the 2010s and is now found globally.<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> The conspiracy theory of a Marxist culture war is promoted by ] politicians, ] leaders, political commentators in mainstream print and television media, and ] ],<ref name="Mirrlees 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Mirrlees |first1=Tanner |title=The Alt-right's Discourse on 'Cultural Marxism': A Political Instrument of Intersectional Hate |journal=Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice |year=2018 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=49–69 |url=https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5403 |access-date=November 5, 2020 |issn=1715-0698 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201120536/https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5403/pdf_55 |url-status=live}}</ref> and has been described as "a foundational element of the ] worldview".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elley |first1=Ben |title="The rebirth of the West begins with you!"—Self-improvement as radicalisation on 4chan |journal=Humanities and Social Sciences Communications |date=2021 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1057/s41599-021-00732-x |s2cid=232164033 |issn=2662-9992 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Scholarly analysis of the conspiracy theory has concluded that it has no basis in fact.<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/><ref name="Braune 2019"/><ref name="Jamin 2018"/> | |||
The term "'''Cultural Marxism'''" refers to a ] ] ] which claims that ] is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert ].<ref name="Jay">{{cite web |last=Jay |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Jay |title=Dialectic of Counter-Enlightenment: The Frankfurt School as Scapegoat of the Lunatic Fringe |url=http://cms.skidmore.edu/salmagundi/backissues/168-169/martin-jay-frankfurt-school-as-scapegoat.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124045123/http://cms.skidmore.edu/salmagundi/backissues/168-169/martin-jay-frankfurt-school-as-scapegoat.cfm |archive-date=November 24, 2011 |website=Salmagundi Magazine}}</ref><ref name="Jamin">{{cite book |last=Jamin |first=Jérôme |title=The Post-War Anglo-American Far Right: A Special Relationship of Hate |publisher=] |location=London, England |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-137-39619-8 |editor-last=Shekhovtsov |editor-first=Anton |editor-link=Anton Shekhovtsov |pages=84–103 |chapter=Cultural Marxism and the Radical Right |doi=10.1057/9781137396211.0009 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |editor-last2=Jackson |editor-first2=Paul |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbLSBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922220920/https://books.google.com/books?id=VbLSBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA84 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |url-status=live |via=]}}</ref><ref name="Copsey 2015">{{cite book |last1=Richardson |first1=John E. |title=Cultures of Post-War British Fascism |last2=Copsey |first2=Nigel |date=2015 |publisher=] |location=Abingdon, England |isbn=9781317539360 |chapter='Cultural-Marxism' and the British National Party: a transnational discourse |access-date=September 11, 2020 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HIwGCAAAQBAJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929062019/https://books.google.com/books?id=HIwGCAAAQBAJ |archive-date=September 29, 2020 |url-status=live |via=]}}</ref> The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ] as being responsible for modern ] movements, ], and ], claiming there is an ongoing and intentional ] of Western society via a planned ] that undermines the Christian values of ] and seeks to replace them with the culturally liberal values of the 1960s.<ref name="Jamin"/><ref name="Copsey 2015"/><ref name="Jeffries 2016">{{cite book |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |year=2016 |title=Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School |location=London, England |publisher=] |pages=6–11 |isbn=9781784785680}}</ref> | |||
Although similarities with the ] propaganda term "]" have been noted, the contemporary conspiracy theory originated in the United States during the 1990s.<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jay |first=M. |date=2010 |title=Dialectic of counter-enlightenment: The frankfurt school as scapegoat of the lunatic fringe |journal=Salmagundi |volume=168/169 |pages=30–40 |via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Busbridge |first1=Rachel |last2=Moffitt |first2=Benjamin |last3=Thorburn |first3=Joshua |date=June 2020 |title=Cultural Marxism: Far-Right Conspiracy Theory in Australia's Culture Wars |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822 |journal=Social Identities |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=722–738 |publisher=] |location=London, England |doi=10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822 |s2cid=225713131 |issn=1350-4630 |access-date=October 6, 2020 |archive-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730085335/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|In its dominant iteration, the US-originating conspiracy holds that a small group of Marxist critical theorists have conspired to destroy Western civilisation by taking over key cultural institutions.}} Originally found only on the far-right political fringe, the term began to enter mainstream discourse in the 2010s and is now found globally.<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> The conspiracy theory of a Marxist culture war is promoted by ] politicians, ] leaders, political commentators in mainstream print and television media, and ] ],<ref name="Mirrlees 2018">{{cite journal |last=Mirrlees |first=Tanner |date=2018 |title=The Alt-Right's Discourse of 'cultural Marxism': A political Instrument of Intersectional Hate |url=https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5403/pdf_55 |journal=Atlantis Journal |volume=39 |issue=1 |publisher=] |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |access-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201120536/https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5403/pdf_55 |url-status=live}}</ref> and has been described as "a foundational element of the ] worldview".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elley |first1=Ben |title="The rebirth of the West begins with you!"—Self-improvement as radicalisation on 4chan |journal=Humanities and Social Sciences Communications |date=2021 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1057/s41599-021-00732-x |s2cid=232164033 |language=en |issn=2662-9992 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Scholarly analysis of the conspiracy theory has concluded that it has no basis in fact.<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/><ref name="Braune 2019"/> | |||
== Origins == | == Origins == | ||
European reactionaries, following their defeat in the ]s of the 1960s against liberals and Marxists, split from the mainstream conservatism of the "Old Right", forming a loose intellectual grouping (the "]") that criticised the contemporaneous society and attempted to transform cultural norms and values. In the 21st century, The European New Right influenced the US ] to focus on nonviolent ways to delegitimize the liberal status quo. This included criticising the perceived decline of ] and the influence of pop culture, which they claimed was the result of a collusion between capitalism and what they called "Cultural Marxism".<ref name="Byrd p338">{{cite book |last=Byrd |first=Dustin J. |editor1=Orofino, Elisa |editor2=Allchorn, William |chapter=Metapolitics and the US Far Right |date=2023 |title=Routledge Handbook of Non-Violent Extremism |pages=338–343 |edition=1 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781003032793-26 |isbn=978-1-003-03279-3}}</ref><ref name="Paternotte 2021"/> | |||
=== Michael Minnicino and the LaRouche Movement === | === Michael Minnicino and the LaRouche Movement === | ||
Michael Minnicino's 1992 essay ''New Dark Age: The Frankfurt School and 'Political Correctness' '' has been described as a starting point for the contemporary conspiracy theory in the United States.<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="WoodsCommune"/><ref name= |
Michael Minnicino's 1992 essay ''New Dark Age: The Frankfurt School and 'Political Correctness' '' has been described as a starting point for the contemporary conspiracy theory in the United States.<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="WoodsCommune"/><ref name="Jay 2020">{{Cite book |first=Martin |last=Jay |chapter=Dialectic of Counter-Enlightenment: The Frankfurt School as Scapegoat of the Lunatic Fringe |title=Splinters in Your Eye: Essays on the Frankfurt School |date=2020 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-78873-603-9 |pages=151–172 |oclc=1163441655}}{{page range too broad|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref name="schillerinstitute.org">{{cite web |last=Minnicino |first=Michael |title=New Dark Age: Frankfurt School and 'Political Correctness' |url=http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_91-96/921_frankfurt.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725022941/http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_91-96/921_frankfurt.html |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |publisher=Schiller Institute}}</ref> Minnicino's interest in the subject derived from his involvement in the ].<ref name="Jay 2020" /><ref name="WoodsCommune" /> ] had begun developing conspiracy theories regarding the Frankfurt School in 1974, when he alleged that ] and ] were acting as part of ].<ref name="WoodsCommune" /> Other features of the conspiracy theory had developed across the 1970s and 80s in the movement's magazine, ''],'' according to the researcher Andrew Woods.<ref name="WoodsCommune" /> | ||
Minnicino's essay argued that late twentieth-century America had become a "New Dark Age" as a result of the abandonment of ] and ] ideals, which he claimed had been replaced in ] with a "tyranny of ugliness". He attributed this to an alleged plot to instill ] in America, carried out in three stages by ], the Frankfurt School, and elite media figures and political campaigners.<ref name="Woods 2019" /> | Minnicino's essay argued that late twentieth-century America had become a "New Dark Age" as a result of the abandonment of ] and ] ideals, which he claimed had been replaced in ] with a "tyranny of ugliness". He attributed this to an alleged plot to instill ] in America, carried out in three stages by ], the Frankfurt School, and elite media figures and political campaigners.<ref name="Woods 2019" /> | ||
] in 1976]] | ] in 1976]] | ||
Minnicino asserted there were two aspects of the Frankfurt School plan to destroy |
Minnicino asserted there were two aspects of the Frankfurt School plan to destroy Western culture. Firstly, a cultural critique, by ] and ], to use art and culture to promote ] and replace ] with ]. This included the development of ]ing and advertising techniques to ] the populace and control political campaigning. Secondly, the plan supposedly included attacks on the traditional family structure by ] and ] to promote ], sexual liberation, and ] to subvert ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Minnicino claimed the Frankfurt School was responsible for elements of the ] and a "] revolution", distributing ]ic drugs to encourage sexual perversion and promiscuity.<ref name="Woods 2019"/> | ||
After the ] by ], a follower of the conspiracy theory, Minnicino repudiated his own essay.<ref name=" |
After the ] by ], a follower of the conspiracy theory, Minnicino repudiated his own essay.<ref name="Jay 2020"/><ref name="WoodsCommune"/> Minnicino wrote, "I still like to think that some of my research was validly conducted and useful. However, I see very clearly that the whole enterprise—and especially the conclusions—was hopelessly deformed by self-censorship and the desire to in some way support Mr. LaRouche's crack-brained world-view."<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | ||
=== Paul Weyrich and William Lind === | === Paul Weyrich and William Lind === | ||
] and ] were prominent figures of ] in the United States; Weyrich had co-founded right-wing groups including the ], which he led.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Weyrich equated |
] and ] were prominent figures of ] in the United States; Weyrich had co-founded right-wing groups including the ], which he led.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Weyrich equated political correctness with Cultural Marxism in a speech to the ] of the Civitas Institute in 1998.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Bangstad |first=Sindre |title=Anders Breivik and the Rise of Islamophobia. |date=2014 |publisher=Zed Books |isbn=978-1-78360-009-0 |location=London |pages=87–88 |oclc=881366672}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Neiwert |title=Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=15 |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-63388-627-8}}</ref><ref name="Weyrich" /> He argued that "we have lost the culture war" and that "a legitimate strategy for us to follow is to look at ways to separate ourselves from the institutions that have been captured by the ideology of Political Correctness, or by other enemies of our traditional culture."<ref name="Weyrich">{{cite web |last1=Weyrich |first1=Paul |author1-link=Paul Weyrich |title=Letter to Conservatives by Paul M. Weyrich |url=https://www.nationalcenter.org/Weyrich299.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000411172504/http://www.nationalcenter.org/Weyrich299.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2000 |website=Conservative Think Tank: The National Center for Public Policy Research}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Donald W. |last1=Whisenhunt |title=Reading the Twentieth Century: Documents in American History |publisher=] |location=Lanham, Maryland |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7425-6477-0}}</ref> | ||
For the Free Congress Foundation, Weyrich commissioned Lind, a paleoconservative activist, to write a history of Cultural Marxism, defined as "a brand of |
For the Free Congress Foundation, Weyrich commissioned Lind, a paleoconservative activist, to write a history of Cultural Marxism, defined as "a brand of Western Marxism ... commonly known as ']' or, less formally, Political Correctness."<ref name="Lind">{{cite web |last1=Lind |first1=William S. |title=What is Cultural Marxism? |url=http://www.marylandthursdaymeeting.com/Archives/SpecialWebDocuments/Cultural.Marxism.htm |website=Maryland Thursday Meeting |archive-date=April 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401094709/http://www.marylandthursdaymeeting.com/Archives/SpecialWebDocuments/Cultural.Marxism.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> In the 2000 speech ''The Origins of Political Correctness'', Lind wrote, "If we look at it analytically, if we look at it historically, we quickly find out exactly what it is. Political correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. It is an effort that goes back not to the 1960s and the ] and the ], but back to ]. If we compare the basic tenets of Political Correctness with ], the parallels are very obvious."<ref name="Bill">{{cite web |last1=Lind |first1=William S. |title=The Origins of Political Correctness |url=http://www.academia.org/the-origins-of-political-correctness/ |website=] |access-date=November 8, 2015 |date=February 5, 2000 |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017014712/http://www.academia.org/the-origins-of-political-correctness/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Third-party inline|date=April 2023}} | ||
Lind employed the conspiracy theory to argue that leftist and liberal ideologies were alien to the United States.<ref name="Woods 2019" /> He argued that Lukács and ] had aimed to subvert Western culture because it was an obstacle to the Marxist goal of ]. He alleged that the Frankfurt School under ] had hoped to destroy Western civilization and establish totalitarianism (even though some members had fled ]), using four main strategies. First, Lind said, Horkheimer's critical theory would undermine the authority of family and government while segregating society into opposing groups of victims and oppressors. Second, he said, concepts of the ] and the ] measuring susceptibility to |
Lind employed the conspiracy theory to argue that leftist and liberal ideologies were alien to the United States.<ref name="Woods 2019" /> He argued that Lukács and ] had aimed to subvert Western culture because it was an obstacle to the Marxist goal of ]. He alleged that the Frankfurt School under ] had hoped to destroy Western civilization and establish totalitarianism (even though some members had fled ]), using four main strategies. First, Lind said, Horkheimer's critical theory would undermine the authority of family and government while segregating society into opposing groups of victims and oppressors. Second, he said, concepts of the ] and the ] measuring susceptibility to fascism, developed by Adorno, would be used to accuse Americans with right-wing views of having fascist principles. Third, he said, polymorphous perversity would undermine family structure by promoting ] and ]. Fourth, he characterized ] as saying that left victim-groups should be allowed to speak while groups on the right were silenced.<ref name="Woods 2019" /> Lind said that Marcuse considered a coalition of "], students, ] women, and homosexuals" as a feasible ] of cultural revolution in the 1960s.<ref name="Berkowitz">{{cite web |last1=Berkowitz |first1=Bill |title=Ally of Christian Right Heavyweight Paul Weyrich Addresses Holocaust Denial Conference |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2002/ally-christian-right-heavyweight-paul-weyrich-addresses-holocaust-denial-conference |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |publisher=SPLC 2003 |access-date=April 19, 2016 |archive-date=April 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428160818/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2002/ally-christian-right-heavyweight-paul-weyrich-addresses-holocaust-denial-conference |url-status=live}}</ref> Lind also wrote that Cultural Marxism was an example of ].<ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Paul |title=A User's Guide to 'Cultural Marxism': Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory, Reloaded |website=] |date=May 5, 2019 |url=https://www.salon.com/2019/05/05/a-users-guide-to-cultural-marxism-anti-semitic-conspiracy-theory-reloaded/ |access-date=June 11, 2019 |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611094714/https://www.salon.com/2019/05/05/a-users-guide-to-cultural-marxism-anti-semitic-conspiracy-theory-reloaded/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
] brought more attention among ] to Weyrich and Lind's iteration of the conspiracy theory.<ref name=" |
] brought more attention among ] to Weyrich and Lind's iteration of the conspiracy theory.<ref name="Richardson 2015"/><ref>{{cite web |title='Cultural Marxism' Catching On |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2003/cultural-marxism-catching |access-date=September 11, 2020 |website=] |archive-date=September 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930043851/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2003/cultural-marxism-catching |url-status=live}}</ref> Jérôme Jamin refers to Buchanan as the "intellectual momentum"<ref name="Jamin 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Jamin |first1=Jérôme |title=Cultural Marxism: A survey |journal=Religion Compass |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec3.12258 |year=2018 |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=e12258 |doi=10.1111/REC3.12258}}</ref> of the conspiracy theory, and to Anders Breivik as the "violent impetus".<ref name="Jamin 2018"/> Both of them relied on Lind, who edited a multi-authored work called "Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology" that Jamin calls the core text that "has been unanimously cited as 'the' reference since 2004."<ref name="Jamin 2018"/> | ||
Lind and the Free Congress Foundation produced the video ''Political Correctness: The Frankfurt School'' in 1999.<ref name="Jay"/><ref name="Berkowitz"/> It was further distributed by the ], a racist group, which added its own introduction.<ref name="Berkowitz" /> The film includes decontextualized clips of historian ], who was not aware of the nature of the production at the time.<ref name="Jay"/><ref name="LikeUs"/> Jay has since become a recognized expert on the conspiracy theory.<ref name="LikeUs"/> Concerning right-wing exploitation of his statements, Jay wrote, "Those beans I allegedly spilled had been on the plate for a very long time," going on to confirm that the Frankfurt school were Marxists concerned with culture, and that Marcuse promulgated the idea of repressive tolerance.<ref name="Jay"/> However, the conspiracy theory presents an "improverished cartoon version" of these ideas.<ref name=" |
Lind and the Free Congress Foundation produced the video ''Political Correctness: The Frankfurt School'' in 1999.<ref name="Jay 2010"/><ref name="Berkowitz"/> It was further distributed by the ], a racist group, which added its own introduction.<ref name="Berkowitz" /> The film includes decontextualized clips of historian ], who was not aware of the nature of the production at the time.<ref name="Jay 2010"/><ref name="LikeUs"/> Jay has since become a recognized expert on the conspiracy theory.<ref name="LikeUs"/> Concerning right-wing exploitation of his statements, Jay wrote, "Those beans I allegedly spilled had been on the plate for a very long time," going on to confirm that the Frankfurt school were Marxists concerned with culture, and that Marcuse promulgated the idea of repressive tolerance.<ref name="Jay 2010"/> However, the conspiracy theory presents an "improverished cartoon version" of these ideas.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | ||
Jay wrote that Lind's documentary was effective Cultural Marxism ] because it "spawned a number of condensed, textual versions, which were reproduced on a number of radical, right-wing sites."<ref name="Jay"/> Jay further writes: | Jay wrote that Lind's documentary was effective Cultural Marxism ] because it "spawned a number of condensed, textual versions, which were reproduced on a number of radical, right-wing sites."<ref name="Jay 2010"/> Jay further writes: | ||
<blockquote>These, in turn, led to a plethora of new videos, now available on ], which feature an odd cast of pseudo-experts regurgitating exactly the same line. The message is numbingly simplistic: All the 'ills' of modern American culture, from ], ], ], ], ] and ] to the decay of traditional education, and even ], are ultimately attributable to the insidious intellectual influence of the members of the Institute for Social Research who came to America in the 1930s.<ref name="Jay"/></blockquote> | <blockquote>These, in turn, led to a plethora of new videos, now available on ], which feature an odd cast of pseudo-experts regurgitating exactly the same line. The message is numbingly simplistic: All the 'ills' of modern American culture, from ], ], ], ], ] and ] to the decay of traditional education, and even ], are ultimately attributable to the insidious intellectual influence of the members of the Institute for Social Research who came to America in the 1930s.<ref name="Jay 2010"/></blockquote> | ||
Lind's documentary also featured Lazlo Pasztor, a former member of the Hungarian ] who collaborated with the ], and later served five years in prison for ].<ref name="TheNation">{{cite news |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Paul H. |title=Seven Decades of Nazi Collaboration: America's Dirty Little Ukraine Secret |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/seven-decades-nazi-collaboration-americas-dirty-little-ukraine-secret/ |access-date=29 December 2023 |date=28 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Jay 2010"/><ref name="FAIR">{{cite web |last1=Rendall |first1=Steve |title=Heritage of Extremism |url=https://fair.org/home/heritage-of-extremism/ |website=FAIR |access-date=13 December 2023 |date=1 July 1996}}</ref><ref name="Huffpo">{{cite news |last1=Blumenthal |first1=Paul |title=Even Before Trump, The Republican Party Was Reluctant To Push Out Nazi-Linked Officials |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-nazis_n_58ee6cc3e4b0bb9638e0af54 |access-date=13 December 2023 |work=HuffPost |publisher=Huffington Post |date=12 April 2017 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
== Frankfurt School == | |||
{{main|Frankfurt School}} | |||
]. Student protest movements drew on the scholars of the Frankfurt School, especially ]. The blackboard reads, "Study is Opium" and "Only fascists study today."]] | |||
=== Others === | |||
Apart from any conspiratorial usage, the phrase 'cultural Marxism' has been occasionally used in accepted academic scholarship to mean the study of how the production of culture is used by elite groups to maintain their dominance.<ref name="survey"/><ref name="Hanlon"/><ref name="Lynn">{{cite journal |last=Lynn |first=Andrew |title=Cultural Marxism |journal=The Hedgehog Review |volume=20 |number=3}}</ref><ref name="LikeUs"/> Generally no one self-identifies as a 'cultural Marxist'.<ref name="LikeUs"/> 'Cultural Marxism' is sometimes treated as synonymous with the ']' that originated in the ];<ref name="survey"/><ref name="Hanlon"/> the name 'Critical Theory' was coined as a euphemism for Marxism.<ref name="JaySplintersIntro">{{Cite book |first=Martin |last=Jay |chapter=Introduction |title=Splinters in Your Eye Essays on the Frankfurt School. |date=2020 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-78873-603-9 |pages=151–172 |oclc=1163441655}} from {{cite book |title=Walter Benjamin: The Story of a Friendship |translator-last=Zohn |translator-first=Harry |publisher=Shocken Books |year=1981 |page=210}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title="The Essential Frankfurt School Reader |editor1-last=Arato |editor1-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Gebhardt |editor2-first=Eike |publisher=] |year=1985 |isbn=0-8264-0194-5 |page=205}}</ref> More generally, ], a broad trend of scholarship outside Russia that refocused Marxist thought from its original domain of economics towards culture, is also known as 'cultural Marxism'.<ref name="Buchanan">{{cite book |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199532919.001.0001 |last=Buchanan |first=Ian |title=A Dictionary of Critical Theory |year=2010 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-19-953291-9}}</ref> | |||
] sees a "master plan" in Marxist revolutionaries and Cultural Marxists advocating for or predicting the dissolution of marriage.<ref name="Solway 2019 p. 83">{{cite book | last=Solway | first=David | title=Notes from a Derelict Culture | publisher=Black House Publishing Limited | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-912759-26-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-epDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 | access-date=14 December 2023 | page=83}}</ref> The charge is that they have a "'master plan' for the overthrow of Western civilization from within, personified by those members of the Frankfurt School ".<ref name="Cole 2018 p. 59">{{cite book | last=Cole | first=Mike | title=Trump, the Alt-Right and Public Pedagogies of Hate and for Fascism: What is to be Done? | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-429-88374-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyZxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT59 | access-date=14 December 2023 | page=59}}</ref> | |||
=== Popularization === | |||
A group of ]s including ], ], and ] founded the ] in Frankfurt around 1922 and 1923.<ref name="Abyss">{{cite book |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |title=Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School |publisher=] |date=2017 |page=78 |isbn=9-781-78478-569-7}}</ref> Seeking to explain the failure of the ], they combined Marx's economic analyses with other lines of thought about psychology and culture, especially the ].<ref name="Abyss"/> Around 1929, ] began the school of thought that came to be known as the Frankfurt School or Critical Theory, which grew to encompass numerous contributors directly engaged with the Institute for Social Research and others outside it.<ref name="SEPCriticalTheory">{{Cite SEP |last=Bohman |first=James |last2=Flynn |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Celikates |first3=Robin |title=Critical Theory |url-id=critical-theory |edition=Winter 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Corradetti |first=Claudio |url=https://iep.utm.edu/frankfur/ |title=The Frankfurt School and Critical Theory |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020004411/https://iep.utm.edu/frankfur/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Laurent |last1=Stern |title=On the Frankfurt school |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-6599(83)90043-8 |journal=] |date=January 1, 1983 |issn=0191-6599 |pages=83–90 |volume=4 |issue=1 |doi=10.1016/0191-6599(83)90043-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Frankfurt School |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315132105/frankfurt-school-horkheimer-max-adorno-theodor-torr-zolt%C3%A1n-landmann-michael |publisher=] |date=October 25, 2017 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-315-13210-5 |doi=10.4324/9781315132105 |last1=Adorno |first1=Theodor W. |author1-link=Theodor W. Adorno |last2=Torr |first2=Zoltán |last3=Landmann |first3=Michael |editor1-first=Max |editor1-last=Horkheimer |editor1-link=Max Horkheimer}}</ref> Recognizing the imminent danger of ], in 1935 Horkheimer relocated the institute to ] in New York.<ref name="Abyss"/> Thereafter, it became a driving force of the Frankfurt school to understand the rise of ] so that it could be prevented from repeating.<ref name="Abyss"/><ref name="Jeffries2021">{{cite news |last1=Jeffries |first1=Stuart |title=Why Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt School failed to change the world |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2021/08/splinters-in-your-eye-frankfurt-school-review |access-date=October 4, 2021 |work=] |date=August 18, 2021}}</ref> In works including Horkheimer and ]'s book '']'' and ] '']'' they analyzed the ] in terms of Marxist labor theory and Freudian psychoanalysis. They were concerned about ]'s ability to instill ], and Adorno proposed the concept of an ] that rendered citizens in liberal democracies vulnerable to being swept up in fascist movements.<ref name="Abyss"/> | |||
Rachel Busbridge, Benjamin Moffitt and Joshua Thorburn describe the conspiracy theory as being promoted by the far-right, but that it "has gained ground over the past quarter century" and conclude that "hrough the lens of the Cultural Marxist conspiracy, however, it is possible to discern a relationship of empowerment between mainstream and fringe, whereby certain talking points and tropes are able to be transmitted, taken up and adapted by 'mainstream' figures, thus giving credence and visibility to ideologies that would have previously been constrained to the margins."<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> | |||
], founder of ], authored a 2011 book ''Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World'' that represents one of the conspiracy theory's moves towards the mainstream.<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="Jay 2020"/> Breitbart's interpretation of the conspiracy is similar in most respects to that of Lind. Breitbart attributes the spread of the ideas of the Frankfurt School from universities to a wider audience to "trickledown intellectualism", and claims that ] introduced cultural Marxism to the masses in his 1971 handbook '']''. Woods argues that Breitbart focuses on Alinsky in order to associate cultural Marxism with the modern ], and ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Breitbart claims that ] funds the alleged cultural Marxism project.<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Martin Jay wrote that Breitbart's book displayed "appalling ignorance" of the actual work of the Frankfurt School.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | |||
After the war, Adorno and Horkheimer returned to Germany, and the Frankfurt School continued on in a second generation exemplified by ].<ref name="Abyss"/> Herbert Marcuse remained in America, where he became a controversial public figure associated with the ].<ref name="Abyss"/> Through his writing on ] and advising students such as ] and ], Marcuse played a dramatic role in the ] and ].<ref name="Abyss"/> In contrast, most members of the Frankfurt School avoided such involvement.<ref name="Abyss"/> After the New Left declined in the 1970s, ] — a concept with origins in the Frankfurt School — became a major current in American universities.<ref name="Gottesman">{{cite book |last=Gottesman |first=Isaac |title=The Critical Turn in Education |publisher=] |editor-last=Apple |editor-first=Michael |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-138-78134-4}}</ref> Critical pedagogy contributed to controversy about ] in the 1990s.<ref name="Graff">{{cite journal |last=Graff |first=Gerald |title=Teaching Politically Without Political Correctness |journal=The Radical Teacher |year=2000 |volume=Fall 2000 |number=58 |pages=26–30 |jstor=20710051 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20710051}}</ref> | |||
Breitbart News has published the idea that ]'s ] music was an attempt at inducing mental illness on a mass scale.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brown |first=Mark |date=January 2019 |title=In defence of degenerate art |url=http://socialistreview.org.uk/442/defence-degenerate-art |magazine=] |issue=442 |access-date=November 22, 2020 |quote=In 2015, Gerald Warner (the 'Tory intellectual' Scottish journalist) wrote an article for the American alt-right house journal Breitbart attacking the Frankfurt School of left-wing cultural theorists. His piece included this little gem: 'Theodor Adorno promoted degenerate atonal music to induce mental illness, including necrophilia, on a large scale.' |archive-date=August 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820022802/http://socialistreview.org.uk/442/defence-degenerate-art |url-status=live}}</ref> Former ] contributors ] and ], founder of ], have promoted the conspiracy theory, especially the claim that Cultural Marxist activity is happening in universities.<ref name="Braune 2019"/><ref>{{cite magazine |last=McManus |first=Matt |date=May 18, 2018 |url=https://merionwest.com/2018/05/18/on-marxism-post-modernism-and-cultural-marxism/ |title=On Marxism, Post-Modernism, and 'Cultural Marxism' |magazine=Merion West |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617192743/https://merionwest.com/2018/05/18/on-marxism-post-modernism-and-cultural-marxism/ |archive-date=June 17, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/><ref name="Mirrlees 2018"/> | |||
=== Conspiratorial interpretations === | |||
Conspiracy theories claim that an elite of Marxist theorists and Frankfurt School intellectuals are subverting Western society. Although some theories make reference to actual thinkers and ideas selected from the Western Marxist tradition, they severely misrepresent the subject, and they give an exaggerated interpretation of their effective influence.<ref name="Jamin2018-conclusion">{{cite journal |last1=Jamin |first1=Jérôme |title=Cultural Marxism: A survey |journal=Religion Compass |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec3.12258 |date=February 6, 2018 |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=e12258 |doi=10.1111/REC3.12258 |quote=When looking at the literature on Cultural Marxism as a piece of cultural studies, as a conspiracy described by Lind and its followers, and as arguments used by Buchanan, Breivik, and other actors within their own agendas, we see a common ground made of unquestionable facts in terms of who did what and where, and for how long at the Frankfurt School. Nowhere do we see divergence of opinion about who Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse really were, when they have met and in which universities. But this changes if we look at descriptions of what they wanted to do: conducting research or changing deeply the culture of the West? Were they working for political science or were they engaging with a hidden political agenda? Were they working for the academic community or obeying foreign secret services?}}</ref><ref name="Tuters2018-control">{{cite journal |last1=Tuters |first1=M. |title=Cultural Marxism |journal=] |year=2018 |volume=2018 |issue=2 |pages=32–34 |hdl=11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |url=https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |quote=The concept of Cultural Marxism seeks to introduce readers unfamiliar with – and presumably completely uninterested in – Western Marxist thought to its key thinkers, as well as some of their ideas, as part of an insidious story of secret operations of mind-control ...}}</ref><ref name="Tuters2018-distort">{{cite journal |last1=Tuters |first1=M. |title=Cultural Marxism |journal=] |year=2018 |volume=2018 |issue=2 |pages=32–34 |hdl=11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |url=https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |language=en |quote=The Cultural Marxist narrative attributes incredible influence to the power of the ideas of the Frankfurt School to the extent that it may even be read as a kind of 'perverse tribute' to the latter (Jay 2011). In one account, for example (Estulin 2005), Theodor Adorno is thought to have helped pioneer new and insidious techniques for mind control that are now used by the 'mainstream media' to promote its 'liberal agenda' – this as part of Adorno's work, upon first emigrating to the United States, with Paul Lazarsfeld on the famous Princeton Radio Research Project, which helped popularize the contagion theory of media effects with its study of Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds. In an ironical sense this literature can perhaps be understood as popularizing simplified or otherwise distorted versions of certain concepts initially developed by the Frankfurt School, as well as those of Western Marxism more generally.}}</ref><ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="LikeUs">{{cite journal |first1=Sven |last1=Lütticken |title=Cultural Marxists Like Us |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/700248 |journal=Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry |date=August 24, 2018 |issn=1465-4253 |pages=66–75 |volume=46 |doi=10.1086/700248 |s2cid=150160559}}</ref> None of the Frankfurt School's members were part of any kind of international conspiracy to destroy ].<ref name="Jay"/><ref name="Neiwert 2019">{{cite web |last=Neiwert |first=David |date=January 23, 2019 |title=How the 'cultural Marxism' hoax began, and why it's spreading into mainstream |url=https://www.dailykos.com/story/2019/1/23/1828527/-How-the-cultural-Marxism-hoax-began-and-why-it-s-spreading-into-the-mainstream |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201120515/https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/23/1828527/-How-the-cultural-Marxism-hoax-began-and-why-it-s-spreading-into-the-mainstream |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |access-date=October 24, 2020 |website=]}}</ref> According to Marc Tuters, "the analysis of Marxism proffered by this literature would certainly not stand up to scrutiny by any serious historian of the subject."<ref name="Tuters2018">{{cite journal |last1=Tuters |first1=M. |title=Cultural Marxism |journal=] |year=2018 |volume=2018 |issue=2 |pages=32–34 |hdl=11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |url=https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e}}</ref> Conspiracy theorists misrepresent the nature of Theodor Adorno's work on the ], wherein Adorno sought to understand the ability of mass media to influence the public, which he saw as a danger to be mitigated, rather than a plan to be implemented.<ref name="Jay"/><ref name="Woods 2019"/> | |||
In the late 2010s, Canadian clinical psychologist ] popularized the term, for example, by blaming "Cultural Marxism" for demanding the use of ] as a threat to free speech, thus moving the term into mainstream discourse.<ref name="Mirrlees 2018"/><ref name="Sharpe 2020">{{cite web |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew |url=https://theconversation.com/is-cultural-marxism-really-taking-over-universities-i-crunched-some-numbers-to-find-out-139654 |title=Is 'cultural Marxism' Really Taking Over Universities? I Crunched Some Numbers to Find Out |website=The Conversation |date=September 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006190450/https://theconversation.com/is-cultural-marxism-really-taking-over-universities-i-crunched-some-numbers-to-find-out-139654 |archive-date=October 6, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=October 6, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Berlatsky">{{cite news |first1=Noah |last1=Berlatsky |access-date=November 4, 2020 |title=How Anti-Leftism Has Made Jordan Peterson a Mark for Fascist Propaganda |url=https://psmag.com/education/jordan-peterson-sliding-toward-fascism |website=Pacific Standard |date=March 2, 2018 |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613085727/https://psmag.com/education/jordan-peterson-sliding-toward-fascism |url-status=live}}</ref> Critics state that Peterson misuses '']'' as a stand-in term for the conspiracy without understanding its ] implications,<ref group="note">Peterson uses a variety of terms somewhat interchangeably, among them "postmodernism", "neo-Marxism" and "postmodern neo-Marxism".</ref> specifying that "Peterson isn't an ideological anti-Semite; there's every reason to believe that when he re-broadcasts fascist propaganda, he doesn't even hear the dog-whistles he's emitting".<ref name="Berlatsky"/><ref name="Burston 2020">{{cite book |last=Burston |first=Daniel |title=Psychoanalysis, Politics and the Postmodern University |year=2020 |chapter=Jordan Peterson and the Postmodern University |location=Cham, Switzerland |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=129–156 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-34921-9_7 |isbn=978-3-030-34921-9 |s2cid=214014811}}{{page range too broad|date=June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raatikainen |first=Panu |date=2022 |title=Jordan Peterson on Postmodernism, Truth, and Science. |url=https://philarchive.org/rec/RAAJPO |journal=Jordan Peterson. Critical Responses. |publisher=Carus Books |publication-place=Chicago |pages=187–197 |via=PhilArchive}}</ref> | |||
Some of the many ways the various versions of the conspiracy theory diverge from reality include: | |||
* Whether individuals associated with the Frankfurt School are responsible for particular acts at particular times, or whether they are responsible for trends across large spans of space and time<ref name="survey"/> | |||
* The goals of the Frankfurt School — whether it was to free the oppressed, or to destroy those institutions they criticized for having an oppressive quality<ref name="survey"/><ref name="Jay"/><ref name="Woods 2019"/> | |||
* How successful or unsuccessful the Frankfurt School was in achieving its goals<ref name="survey"/><ref name="Jay"/><ref name="Jeffries2021"/> | |||
] and journalist Ari Paul have criticized traditional media such as ''The New York Times'', '']'' and '']'' for their coverage of the conspiracy theory, arguing that they have either not clarified the nature of the conspiracy theory or "allow it to live on their pages."<ref name="Paul 2019"/> An example is an article in ''The New York Times'' by ], who Paul and Sunshine argue "rebrands cultural Marxism as mere political correctness, giving the Nazi-inspired phrase legitimacy for the American right. It is dropped in or quoted in other stories—some of them lighthearted, like the fashion cues of the alt-right—without describing how fringe this notion is. It's akin to letting conspiracy theories about ] or ] get unearned space in mainstream press."<ref name="Paul 2019"/> Another is ], who went on "to denounce 'cultural Marxists' for inspiring ] movements on campuses."<ref name="Paul 2019"/> Paul and Sunshine argue that failure to highlight the nature of the conspiracy theory "has bitter consequences. 'It is legitimizing the use of that framework, and therefore it's coded antisemitism.'"<ref name="Paul 2019"/> | |||
Conspiracy theorists position themselves as defending "]",<ref name="survey"/><ref name="Woods 2019"/> which serves as a ] often focusing on ] and ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/> The conspiracy theory is an extreme assessment of political correctness, accusing the latter of being a project to destroy Christianity, ], and the ].<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> Scholars associated with the Frankfurt School sought to create a better society by warning against patriarchy<ref name="Hammond">{{cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Guy B. |title=Transformations of the Father Image |journal=Soundings |volume=61 |number=2 |pages=145–167 |publisher=] |year=1978}}</ref><ref name="GirouxFrankfurt">{{cite journal |last=Giroux |first=Henry |title=Culture and Rationality in Frankfurt School Thought |journal=Theory and Research in Social Education |volume=9 |number=4 |pages=17–55 |publisher=] |doi=10.1080/00933104.1982.10506119}}</ref><ref name="KellnerNewLeft">{{cite book |last=Kellner |first=Douglas |title=Herbert Marcuse: The New Left and the 1960s |publisher=] |year=2005 |isbn=9780815371670 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> and capitalist exploitation, goals that could seem threatening to others who have an interest in maintaining the status quo.<ref name="survey"/> This has been disputed by some critics, who have suggested that the Frankfurt School's theory of historical development gives tacit support to patriarchy and imperialism.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1044778556 |title=The Routledge companion to the Frankfurt school |date=2019 |editor1-first=Peter Eli |editor1-last=Gordon |editor2-first=Espen |editor2-last=Hammer |editor3-first=Axel |editor3-last=Honneth |isbn=978-0-429-44337-4 |location=New York, NY |publisher=] |pages=xx |oclc=1044778556}}</ref> | |||
Supporters of the conspiracy theory include paleoconservative political philosopher ]. Gottfried was at one time a student of Herbert Marcuse (with whom he disagreed) and edited the academic journal ''].''<ref name="Jay 2020"/><ref name="Braune 2019"/> Under Gottfried's tenure, ''Telos'' became far-right in its outlook, writing favorably about ] and ].<ref name="Braune 2019"/><ref name="Jay 2020"/> Gottfried influenced Richard Spencer and has been called the "]" of the alt-right.<ref name="Jay 2020"/><ref name="Braune 2019"/> He defended William Lind against accusations that "Cultural Marxism" has anti-semitic undertones.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> Gottfried identifies as ] and questions the value of ].<ref name="Braune 2019"/> Gottfried defines cultural Marxism as "a particular movement for change that combines some elements of Marxist socialism with a call for sexual and cultural revolution". However, he says that the term "cultural Marxism" is not ideal since the connection with Marxism is tenuous.<ref name="GottfriedAntifascism">{{cite book |last=Gottfried |first=Paul |title=Antifascism: The Course of a Crusade |publisher=] |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-5017-5935-2}}</ref> Gottfried writes that the influence of the Frankfurt School lives on in modern left-wing politics mainly in the form of a tendency to conflate the right wing with fascism.<ref name="GottfriedAntifascism"/> | |||
] tended to focus on economics and dismiss cultural matters as ], but this tendency was reversed in Western Marxism. The Frankfurt School critiqued the culture industry and its ability to undermine class consciousness, then later it began to examine the culture industry as a kind of base productive sector. This shift coincided with the rise of the New Left and a pivot from working classes to intellectuals as a revolutionary vanguard. According to Sven Lütticken, the narrative of a progressive ] resembles actual events, apart from the "extreme, borderline-magical" agency that the conspiracy theory attributes to a handfull of sociologists.<ref name="LikeUs"/> | |||
==Aspects== | |||
Conspiracy theorists exaggerate the real influence of Western Marxists. By contrast, Stuart Jeffries noted their "negligible real-world impact", while Jürgen Habermas criticized what he called their "strategy of hibernation", noting that Frankfurt School figures were mostly content to complain about the world rather than attempting to change it.<ref name="Jeffries2021"/> Jeffries wrote: "The Frankfurt conspiracy theory, which has captivated several alt-right figures including Trump, ] and the late ], founder of the eponymous news service, turned this history on its head. Rather than impotent professors issuing scarcely comprehensible ]s from the academy, the likes of Adorno, Horkheimer, ] and Herbert Marcuse were a crack cadre of subversives, who, during their American exile, performed a cultural takedown to which ']' is a belated riposte."<ref name="Jeffries2021"/> According to Joan Braune, Cultural Marxism in the sense referred to by the conspiracy theorists never existed, and does not correspond to any historical school of thought. She also states that Frankfurt School scholars are referred to as "Critical Theorists", not "Cultural Marxists". She points out that, contrary to the claims of the conspiracy theorists, ] tends to be wary of or even hostile towards Marxism, including towards the ] typically supported by Critical Theory.<ref name="Braune 2019">{{cite journal |last=Braune |first=Joan |date=2019 |title=Who's Afraid of the Frankfurt School? 'Cultural Marxism' as an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory |url=http://transformativestudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Joan-Braune.pdf |journal=Journal of Social Justice |volume=9 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716023535/http://transformativestudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Joan-Braune.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
In a 2019 addendum to ''Dialectic of Counter-Enlightenment'', Martin Jay wrote that the conspiracy theory's enduring circulation calls for deeper analysis than simple ridicule.<ref name="Jay2019"/> He suggests a starting point for investigation to be the Frankfurt School's analysis of the authoritarian personality and the reception of this idea on the right. From the beginning in Minnicino's essay, the conspiracy theory has identified the authoritarian personality concept as an instrument for promulgating political correctness. By pathologizing political commitments as a form of mental illness, the authoritarian personality concept denies personal agency and the possibility of change. Fromm, Habermas, and ], among others, have raised cautionary notes about this tendency. The conspiracy theory however draws unfounded inferences from the Frankfurt School's various post-war government funding sources to vastly overstate Adorno's influence on government policy. Nonetheless, the authoritarian personality scale has been wielded rhetorically against populism and the alt-right since 2016. Jay concludes it is, "counterproductive to pathologize their politics too quickly and subsume them under theoretical categories that rob them of any critical self-reflectivity or ability to alter their views or behavior."<ref name="Jay2019"/> | |||
== Terrorism == | |||
{{anchor|Anders Behring Breivik}} | |||
], which he said were a defense against Cultural Marxism<ref name=":1" /><ref name="QANTARA" /><ref name=":0" />]] | |||
The conspiracy theory states that an elite of Marxist theorists and Frankfurt School intellectuals are subverting Western society.{{sfnp|Jamin|2018|ps=. "When looking at the literature on Cultural Marxism as a piece of cultural studies, as a conspiracy described by Lind and its followers, and as arguments used by Buchanan, Breivik, and other actors within their own agendas, we see a common ground made of unquestionable facts in terms of who did what and where, and for how long at the Frankfurt School. Nowhere do we see divergence of opinion about who Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse really were, when they have met and in which universities. But this changes if we look at descriptions of what they wanted to do: conducting research or changing deeply the culture of the West? Were they working for political science or were they engaging with a hidden political agenda? Were they working for the academic community or obeying foreign secret services?"}}<ref name="Tuters 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Tuters |first1=M. |title=Cultural Marxism |journal=] |year=2018 |volume=2018 |issue=2 |pages=32–34 |hdl=11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |quote=The concept of Cultural Marxism seeks to introduce readers unfamiliar with – and presumably completely uninterested in – Western Marxist thought to its key thinkers, as well as some of their ideas, as part of an insidious story of secret operations of mind-control ...}}</ref>{{sfnp|Tuters|2018|pp=32–34|ps=. "The Cultural Marxist narrative attributes incredible influence to the power of the ideas of the Frankfurt School to the extent that it may even be read as a kind of 'perverse tribute' to the latter (Jay 2011). In one account, for example (Estulin 2005), Theodor Adorno is thought to have helped pioneer new and insidious techniques for mind control that are now used by the 'mainstream media' to promote its 'liberal agenda' – this as part of Adorno's work, upon first emigrating to the United States, with Paul Lazarsfeld on the famous Princeton Radio Research Project, which helped popularize the contagion theory of media effects with its study of Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds. In an ironical sense this literature can perhaps be understood as popularizing simplified or otherwise distorted versions of certain concepts initially developed by the Frankfurt School, as well as those of Western Marxism more generally."}}<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="LikeUs">{{cite journal |first1=Sven |last1=Lütticken |title=Cultural Marxists Like Us |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/700248 |journal=Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry |date=August 24, 2018 |issn=1465-4253 |pages=66–75 |volume=46 |doi=10.1086/700248 |s2cid=150160559|hdl=1871.1/5d0f407a-3b77-4c45-85eb-cacbe50c240d |hdl-access=free }}</ref> None of the Frankfurt School's members were part of any kind of international conspiracy to destroy ],<ref name="Jay 2010"/><ref name="Neiwert 2019">{{cite web |last=Neiwert |first=David |date=January 23, 2019 |title=How the 'cultural Marxism' hoax began, and why it's spreading into mainstream |url=https://www.dailykos.com/story/2019/1/23/1828527/-How-the-cultural-Marxism-hoax-began-and-why-it-s-spreading-into-the-mainstream |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201120515/https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/23/1828527/-How-the-cultural-Marxism-hoax-began-and-why-it-s-spreading-into-the-mainstream |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |access-date=October 24, 2020 |website=]}}</ref> and Horkheimer strictly prohibited members of the Frankfurt school from engaging in political activism in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Routledge companion to the Frankfurt school |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-138-33324-6 |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Peter Eli |edition=First issued in paperback |series=Routledge philosophy companions |location=New York London |pages=194 |editor-last2=Hammer |editor-first2=Espen |editor-last3=Honneth |editor-first3=Axel}}</ref> According to ], "the analysis of Marxism proffered by this literature would certainly not stand up to scrutiny by any serious historian of the subject."{{r|Tuters 2018}} Conspiracy theorists misrepresent the nature of Theodor Adorno's work on the ], wherein Adorno sought to understand the ability of mass media to influence the public, which he saw as a danger to be mitigated, rather than a plan to be implemented.<ref name="Jay 2010"/><ref name="Woods 2019"/> | |||
On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik murdered 77 people in the ]. About 90 minutes before enacting the violence, Breivik e-mailed 1,003 people his manifesto ''2083: A European Declaration of Independence'' and a copy of ''Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology''.<ref name=":1">{{cite magazine |last1=Trilling |first1=Daniel |title=Who are Breivik's Fellow Travellers? |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2012/04/who-are-breivik%E2%80%99s-fellow-travellers |access-date=July 18, 2015 |magazine=] |date=April 18, 2012 |archive-date=July 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722052250/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2012/04/who-are-breivik%E2%80%99s-fellow-travellers |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="QANTARA">{{cite web |last1=Buruma |first1=Ian |title=Breivik's Call to Arms |url=http://en.qantara.de/content/islamophobia-in-europe-breiviks-call-to-arms |website=] |publisher=German Federal Agency for Civic Education & Deutsche Welle |date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725115001/http://en.qantara.de/content/islamophobia-in-europe-breiviks-call-to-arms |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |title='Breivik Manifesto' Details Chilling Attack Preparation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14267007 |access-date=August 2, 2015 |work=] |date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924164256/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14267007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cultural Marxism was the primary subject of Breivik's manifesto.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=KhosraviNik|editor1-first=Majid |editor2-last=Mral |editor2-first=Brigitte |editor3-last=Wodak |editor3-first=Ruth |title=Right-wing populism in Europe: Politics and discourse |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |isbn=978-1-7809-3245-3 |pages=96, 97 |edition=reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wrw8gC8vCnUC&pg=PA89 |access-date=July 30, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Gerven Oei |first=Vincent W. J. |date=September 22, 2011 |title=Anders Breivik: On Copying the Obscure |url=http://www.continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/56 |journal=Continent. |language=en |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=213–223 |issn=2159-9920 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716125213/http://www.continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/56 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Breivik wrote that the "sexually transmitted disease (STD) epidemic in Western Europe is a result of cultural Marxism", that "Cultural Marxism defines Muslims, feminist women, homosexuals, and some additional minority groups, as virtuous, and they view ethnic Christian European men as evil" and that the "] (ECHR) in Strasbourg is a cultural-Marxist-controlled political entity."<ref name=":0"/><ref name="QANTARA"/><ref name="PINO">{{cite book |last1=Shanafelt |first1=Robert |last2=Pino |first2=Nathan W. |title=Rethinking Serial Murder, Spree Killing, and Atrocities: Beyond the Usual Distinctions |publisher=] |location=Abingdon, England |isbn=978-1-317-56467-6 |year=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDmLBQAAQBAJ&q=Rethinking+Serial+Murder,+Spree+Killing,+and+Atrocities:+Beyond+the+Usual+author&pg=PT10 |language=en |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828223938/https://books.google.com/books?id=XDmLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT10&lpg=PT10&dq=Rethinking+Serial+Murder,+Spree+Killing,+and+Atrocities:+Beyond+the+Usual+author#v=snippet |url-status=live |via=]}}</ref> | |||
Conspiracy theorists position themselves as defending "Western civilization",<ref name="Jamin 2018"/><ref name="Woods 2019"/> which serves as a ] often focusing on ] and ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/> The conspiracy theory is an extreme assessment of political correctness, accusing the latter of being a project to destroy Christianity, ], and the ].<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> Scholars associated with the Frankfurt School sought to create a better society by warning against patriarchy<ref name="Hammond">{{cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Guy B. |title=Transformations of the Father Image |journal=Soundings |volume=61 |number=2 |pages=145–167 |publisher=] |year=1978}}</ref><ref name="GirouxFrankfurt">{{cite journal |last=Giroux |first=Henry |title=Culture and Rationality in Frankfurt School Thought |journal=Theory and Research in Social Education |date=January 1982 |volume=9 |number=4 |pages=17–55 |publisher=] |doi=10.1080/00933104.1982.10506119}}</ref><ref name="KellnerNewLeft">{{cite book |last=Kellner |first=Douglas |title=Herbert Marcuse: The New Left and the 1960s |publisher=] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8153-7167-0 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref><ref group=note>This has been disputed by some critics, who have suggested that the Frankfurt School's theory of historical development gives tacit support to patriarchy and imperialism.{{Cite book |title=The Routledge companion to the Frankfurt school |date=2019 |editor1-first=Peter Eli |editor1-last=Gordon |editor2-first=Espen |editor2-last=Hammer |editor3-first=Axel |editor3-last=Honneth |isbn=978-0-429-44337-4 |location=New York, NY |publisher=] |page=xx |oclc=1044778556}}</ref> and capitalist exploitation, goals that could seem threatening to others who have an interest in maintaining the status quo.<ref name="Jamin 2018"/> | |||
A number of other far-right terrorists have espoused the conspiracy theory. ], a ] ] convicted of plotting the assassination of Labour MP ], promoted the conspiracy theory in a video for the ].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 12, 2018 |title=MP's murder was to be 'white jihad' |language=en-GB |work=] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44452529 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |archive-date=June 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601071728/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44452529 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 24, 2019 |title=The story of Jack Renshaw: The ex-Manchester student and paedophile who plotted a murder |url=https://thetab.com/uk/2019/05/24/the-story-of-jack-renshaw-the-ex-manchester-student-and-paedophile-who-plotted-a-murder-102505 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |website=] |language=en-GB |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612130506/https://thetab.com/uk/2019/05/24/the-story-of-jack-renshaw-the-ex-manchester-student-and-paedophile-who-plotted-a-murder-102505 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2018 |title=How did Jack Renshaw, star of the creepy BNP Youth video, end up attempting to murder an MP? |url=https://thetab.com/uk/2018/06/15/how-did-jack-renshaw-star-of-the-creepy-bnp-youth-video-end-up-attempting-to-murder-an-mp-68449 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |website=] |language=en-GB |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612175032/https://thetab.com/uk/2018/06/15/how-did-jack-renshaw-star-of-the-creepy-bnp-youth-video-end-up-attempting-to-murder-an-mp-68449 |url-status=live}}</ref> John T. Earnest, the perpetrator of the 2019 ], was inspired by ] ideology. In an online manifesto, Earnest stated that he believed "every Jew is responsible for the meticulously planned ]" through the promotion of "cultural Marxism and communism."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lorber |first1=Ben |title=The Resurgence of Right-Wing Anti-Semitic Conspiracism Endangers All Justice Movements |url=https://rewirenewsgroup.com/religion-dispatches/2019/05/01/the-resurgence-of-right-wing-anti-semitic-conspiracism-endangers-all-justice-movements/ |website=Rewire News Group |date=May 1, 2019 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025144547/https://rewirenewsgroup.com/religion-dispatches/2019/05/01/the-resurgence-of-right-wing-anti-semitic-conspiracism-endangers-all-justice-movements/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
The conspiracy theory exaggerates the influence of the Frankfurt School; ], discussing it, noted their "negligible real-world impact".<ref name="Jeffries2021">{{cite news |last1=Jeffries |first1=Stuart |title=Why Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt School failed to change the world |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2021/08/splinters-in-your-eye-frankfurt-school-review |access-date=October 4, 2021 |work=] |date=August 18, 2021}}</ref> According to Joan Braune, Cultural Marxism in the sense referred to by the conspiracy theorists never existed, and does not correspond to any historical school of thought. She also states that Frankfurt School scholars are referred to as "Critical Theorists", not "Cultural Marxists". She points out that, contrary to the claims of the conspiracy theorists, ] tends to be wary of or even hostile towards Marxism, including towards the ] typically supported by Critical Theory.<ref name="Braune 2019">{{cite journal |last=Braune |first=Joan |date=2019 |title=Who's Afraid of the Frankfurt School? 'Cultural Marxism' as an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory |url=http://transformativestudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Joan-Braune.pdf |journal=Journal of Social Justice |volume=9 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716023535/http://transformativestudies.org/wp-content/uploads/Joan-Braune.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
=== Reactions === | |||
Concerning the real-life political violence caused by the conspiracy theory, law professor ] wrote: "That 'cultural Marxism' is a crude ], referring to something that does not exist, unfortunately does not mean actual people are not being set up to pay the price, as ]s, to appease a rising sense of anger and anxiety. And for that reason, 'cultural Marxism' is not only a sad diversion from framing legitimate grievances but also a dangerous lure in an increasingly unhinged moment."<ref name="Moyn 2018">{{cite news |title=The Alt-Right's Favorite Meme is 100 Years Old |first=Samuel |last=Moyn |author-link=Samuel Moyn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront |newspaper=] |date=November 13, 2018 |access-date=November 4, 2018 |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114182205/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
== Antisemitism == | == Antisemitism == | ||
The author Matthew Rose wrote that arguments by the American neo-Nazi ] after World War II were an early example of the conspiracy theory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Matthew |
The author Matthew Rose wrote that arguments by the American neo-Nazi ] after World War II were an early example of the conspiracy theory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Matthew |title=A World after Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right |publisher=] |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-26308-4 |name-list-style=and |page=78}}</ref> | ||
] views the ]. The Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory is often compared to the antisemitic Nazi propaganda about "]" and "]".]] | ] views the ]. The Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory is often compared to the antisemitic Nazi propaganda about "]" and "]".]] | ||
William Lind on one occasion presented his theories at a ] conference.<ref name="Berkowitz"/> | William Lind on one occasion presented his theories at a ] conference.<ref name="Berkowitz"/> | ||
Spencer Sunshine, an associate fellow at the ], stated that "the focus on the Frankfurt School by the right serves to highlight its inherent Jewishness."<ref name="Paul 2019">{{cite web |last=Paul |first=Ari |date=June 4, 2019 |title='Cultural Marxism': The Mainstreaming of a Nazi Trope |url=https://fair.org/home/cultural-marxism-the-mainstreaming-of-a-nazi-trope/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022045211/https://fair.org/home/cultural-marxism-the-mainstreaming-of-a-nazi-trope/ |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |access-date=October 24, 2020 |publisher=Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting}}</ref> | |||
According to Samuel Moyn, "he wider discourse around cultural Marxism today resembles nothing so much as a version of the ] myth updated for a new age." Maxime Dafaure likewise states that ''Cultural Marxism'' is a contemporary update of antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as the Nazi concept of "Cultural Bolshevism", and is directly associated with the concept of "Jewish Bolshevism".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Maxime |last1=Dafaure |title=The 'Great Meme War:' the Alt-Right and its Multifarious Enemies |url=http://journals.openedition.org/angles/369 |journal=Angles. New Perspectives on the Anglophone World |date=April 1, 2020 |issn=2274-2042 |issue=10 |doi=10.4000/angles.369 |access-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-date=September 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927071602/https://journals.openedition.org/angles/369 |url-status=live |doi-access=free |quote=The Cultural Marxism narrative has particularly telling ancestors, since it is a mere contemporary update of Nazi Germany’s concept of “Cultural Bolshevism” used to foster anti-Soviet fears (not unlike the American anti-communist hysterias of the Red Scares). Maybe even more telling is its direct association with the like-minded “Jewish Bolshevism” concept, which professes the whimsical claim that a Jewish cabal is responsible for the creation and spread of communism, and more broadly for the “degeneracy” of traditional Western values, an infamous term which also surfaces in recent far-right arguments.}}</ref> According to philosopher ], the term ''Cultural Marxism'' "plays the same structural role as that of the 'Jewish plot' in anti-Semitism: it projects (or rather, transposes) the immanent antagonism of our socio-economic life onto an external cause: what the conservative alt-right deplores as the ethical disintegration of our lives (], attacks on ], ], etc.) must have an external cause—because it cannot, for them, emerge out of the antagonisms and tensions of our own societies."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burgis |first1=Ben |last2=Hamilton |first2=Conrad Bongard |last3=McManus |first3=Matthew |last4=Trejo |first4=Marion |date=2020 |title=Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson |publisher=] |location=London, England |page=16 |isbn=978-1-7890-4554-3}}</ref> ] wrote a conservative critique of conservatives' complaints about Cultural Marxism in '']'', stating: "For the Nazis, the Frankfurter School and its vaguely Jewish exponents fell under the rubric of {{lang|de|Kulturbolshewismus}}, 'Cultural Bolshevism.'"<ref name="Paul 2019"/> | |||
According to Samuel Moyn, "he wider discourse around cultural Marxism today resembles nothing so much as a version of the ] myth updated for a new age." Maxime Dafaure likewise states that ''Cultural Marxism'' is a contemporary update of antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as the Nazi concept of "]", and is directly associated with the concept of "Jewish Bolshevism".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Maxime |last1=Dafaure |title=The 'Great Meme War:' the Alt-Right and its Multifarious Enemies |url=http://journals.openedition.org/angles/369 |journal=Angles. New Perspectives on the Anglophone World |date=April 1, 2020 |volume=10 |issn=2274-2042 |issue=10 |doi=10.4000/angles.369 |access-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-date=September 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927071602/https://journals.openedition.org/angles/369 |url-status=live |doi-access=free |quote=The Cultural Marxism narrative has particularly telling ancestors, since it is a mere contemporary update of Nazi Germany's concept of "Cultural Bolshevism" used to foster anti-Soviet fears (not unlike the American anti-communist hysterias of the Red Scares). Maybe even more telling is its direct association with the like-minded "Jewish Bolshevism" concept, which professes the whimsical claim that a Jewish cabal is responsible for the creation and spread of communism, and more broadly for the "degeneracy" of traditional Western values, an infamous term which also surfaces in recent far-right arguments.}}</ref> According to philosopher ], the term ''Cultural Marxism'' "plays the same structural role as that of the 'Jewish plot' in anti-Semitism: it projects (or rather, transposes) the immanent antagonism of our socio-economic life onto an external cause: what the conservative alt-right deplores as the ethical disintegration of our lives (], attacks on ], ], etc.) must have an external cause—because it cannot, for them, emerge out of the antagonisms and tensions of our own societies."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burgis |first1=Ben |last2=Hamilton |first2=Conrad Bongard |last3=McManus |first3=Matthew |last4=Trejo |first4=Marion |date=2020 |title=Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson |publisher=] |location=London, England |page=16 |isbn=978-1-7890-4554-3}}</ref> ] wrote a conservative critique of conservatives' complaints about Cultural Marxism in '']'', stating: "For the Nazis, the Frankfurter School and its vaguely Jewish exponents fell under the rubric of {{lang|de|Kulturbolshewismus}}, 'Cultural Bolshevism.'"<ref name="Paul 2019"/> | |||
Andrew Woods in the essay "Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory" (2019), acknowledges comparisons to Cultural Bolshevism, but argues against the idea the modern conspiracy theory was derived from Nazi propaganda. He writes instead that its antisemitism is "profoundly American".<ref name="Woods 2019">{{cite book |last1=Woods |first1=Andrew |title=Critical Theory and the Humanities in the Age of the Alt-Right |publisher=] |location=New York City |isbn=978-3-030-18753-8 |pages=39–59 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-18753-8_3 |chapter=Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory |date=2019 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-18753-8_3 |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030141727/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-18753-8_3 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|47}} In ''Commune'' magazine, Woods detailed a genealogy of the conspiracy theory beginning with the LaRouche movement.<ref name=WoodsCommune>{{cite web |url=https://communemag.com/the-american-roots-of-a-right-wing-conspiracy/ |last=Woods |first=Andrew |title=The American Roots of a Right-wing Conspiracy |work=Commune |date=March 20, 2019 |volume=Winter 2020 |issue=5}}</ref> | |||
Andrew Woods in the essay "Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory" (2019), acknowledges comparisons to Cultural Bolshevism, but argues against the idea the modern conspiracy theory was derived from Nazi propaganda. He writes instead that its antisemitism is "profoundly American".<ref name="Woods 2019">{{cite book |last1=Woods |first1=Andrew |title=Critical Theory and the Humanities in the Age of the Alt-Right |publisher=] |location=New York |isbn=978-3-030-18753-8 |pages=39–59 |chapter=Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory |date=2019 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-18753-8_3}}</ref>{{rp|47}} In ''Commune'' magazine, Woods detailed a genealogy of the conspiracy theory beginning with the LaRouche movement.<ref name=WoodsCommune>{{cite web |url=https://communemag.com/the-american-roots-of-a-right-wing-conspiracy/ |last=Woods |first=Andrew |title=The American Roots of a Right-wing Conspiracy |work=Commune |date=March 20, 2019 |volume=Winter 2020 |issue=5}}</ref> | |||
] has written several anti-semitic texts centering on the Frankfurt School. MacDonald criticized Breivik's manifesto for not being more hostile to Jews.<ref name="Jay2019"/> | |||
] has written several anti-semitic texts centering on the Frankfurt School. MacDonald criticized Breivik's manifesto for not being more hostile to Jews.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | |||
=== Circulation in the alt-right === | === Circulation in the alt-right === | ||
] and ] promoted the conspiracy theory and help expand its reach. Websites such as the '']'' have run articles with titles like "Cultural Marxism in Action: Media Matters Engineers Cancellation of Vdare.com Conference".<ref name=" |
] and ] promoted the conspiracy theory and help expand its reach. Websites such as the '']'' have run articles with titles like "Cultural Marxism in Action: Media Matters Engineers Cancellation of Vdare.com Conference".<ref name="Mirrlees 2018"/> '']'' regularly runs stories about "Cultural Marxism" with titles such as "Jewish Cultural Marxism is Destroying ]", "Hollywood Strikes Again: Cultural Marxism through the Medium of Big Box-Office Movies" and "The Left-Center-Right Political Spectrum of Immigration = Cultural Marxism".{{sfnp|Mirrlees|2018|ps=. "A glut of content about cultural Marxism now circulates through the Internet and World Wide Web, and much of it stems from alt-right media sources—websites, magazines, and blogs. Anglin's ''The Daily Stormer'' publishes stories like 'Jewish Cultural Marxism is Destroying Abercrombie & Fitch' (Farben 2017) and 'Hollywood Strikes Again: Cultural Marxism through the Medium of Big Box-Office Movies' (Murray 2016) and 'The Left-Center-Right Political Spectrum of Immigration = Cultural Marxism' (Duchesne 2015)."}} | ||
Neo-nazis associated with ] have strategically used the Frankfurt School as a euphemism to refer to Jewish people more generally, in venues where more forthright anti-semitism would be censored or rejected.<ref name=Jay/> | Neo-nazis associated with ] have strategically used the Frankfurt School as a euphemism to refer to Jewish people more generally, in venues where more forthright anti-semitism would be censored or rejected.<ref name="Jay 2010"/> | ||
Timothy Matthews criticized the Frankfurt School from an explicitly ] perspective in the ] weekly newspaper '']''. According to Matthews, the Frankfurt School, under the influence of ], seeks to destroy the traditional Christian family using critical theory and Marcuse's concept of polymorphous perversity, thereby encouraging homosexuality and breaking down the patriarchal family.<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Andrew Woods wrote that the plot Matthews describes does not resemble the Frankfurt School so much as the alleged aims of communists in '']'' by ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref group=note>The article accused the Frankfurt School of having eleven primary aims: | Timothy Matthews criticized the Frankfurt School from an explicitly ] perspective in the ] weekly newspaper '']''. According to Matthews, the Frankfurt School, under the influence of ], seeks to destroy the traditional Christian family using critical theory and Marcuse's concept of polymorphous perversity, thereby encouraging homosexuality and breaking down the patriarchal family.<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Andrew Woods wrote that the plot Matthews describes does not resemble the Frankfurt School so much as the alleged aims of communists in '']'' by ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref group=note>The article accused the Frankfurt School of having eleven primary aims: | ||
Line 99: | Line 92: | ||
#Control and dumbing down of media | #Control and dumbing down of media | ||
#Encouraging the breakdown of the family</ref> | #Encouraging the breakdown of the family</ref> | ||
Nonetheless, Matthews' account was circulated credulously by ] and ] news media as well as in ] internet forums such |
Nonetheless, Matthews' account was circulated credulously by ] and ] news media, as well as in ] internet forums, such as Stormfront.<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="Jay 2010"/> | ||
Following the Norway attacks, the conspiracy theory was taken up by a number of ] outlets and forums, including ] websites such as ], '']'' and ] which have promoted the theory. The AltRight Corporation's website, altright.com, featured articles with titles such as "Ghostbusters and the Suicide of Cultural Marxism", "#3 — Sweden: The World Capital of Cultural Marxism" and "Beta Leftists, Cultural Marxism and Self-Entitlement". |
Following the ], the conspiracy theory was taken up by a number of ] outlets and forums, including ] websites such as ], '']'' and ] which have promoted the theory. The AltRight Corporation's website, altright.com, featured articles with titles such as "Ghostbusters and the Suicide of Cultural Marxism", "#3 — Sweden: The World Capital of Cultural Marxism" and "Beta Leftists, Cultural Marxism and Self-Entitlement".{{r|Mirrlees 2018}} ''InfoWars'' ran numerous headlines such as "Is Cultural Marxism America's New Mainline Ideology?"<ref name="Braune 2019"/> VDARE ran similar articles with similar titles such as "Yes, Virginia (Dare) There Is A Cultural Marxism—And It's Taking Over Conservatism Inc."<ref name="Mirrlees 2018"/> | ||
], head of the ], has promoted the conspiracy theory.<ref name="Mirrlees 2018"/> Spencer's ] was on the topic of Theodor Adorno.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | |||
A combination of ] and ] within the alt-right has produced the concept of "'''{{vanchor|globohomo}}'''",<ref name="Mihailovic p139">{{cite book |last1=Mihailovic |first1=Alexandar |title=Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia |date=2023 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison |isbn=978-0-299-34050-6 |page=139}}</ref> a variant of "Cultural Marxism" alleging that media and business elites seek to impose a homogeneous "uniculture" on the world, and to weaken populations by promoting feminism, sexual freedom, gender fluidity, liberalism, and immigration.<ref name="Lawrence 2021">{{cite report |last1=Lawrence |first1=David |last2=Simhony-Philpott |first2=Limor |last3=Stone |first3=Danny |title=Antisemitism and Misogyny: Overlap and Interplay |url=https://antisemitism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Antisemitism-and-Misogyny-Overlap-and-Interplay.pdf |publisher=Antisemitism Policy Trust |pages=4, 13 |date=September 2021}}</ref> "Globohomo" stands in for global ], which is believed to be responsible for replacing a diversity of local cultures (especially white, Western culture) with generic ].<ref name="Gray p332">{{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=Phillip W. |editor1-last=Hunter |editor1-first=Shona |editor2-last=Van der Westhuizen |editor2-first=Christi |title=Routledge Handbook of Critical Studies in Whiteness |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-429-35576-9 |page=332 |doi=10.4324/9780429355769-27 |chapter=Whiteness as resistance: The intersectionality of the ‘Alt-Right’|s2cid=244446679 }}</ref> The concept was promoted by ] James C. Weidmann through his blog ''Chateau Heartiste''.{{r|Lawrence 2021}} | |||
], head of the ], has promoted the conspiracy theory.<ref name="Media"/> Spencer's ] was on the topic of Theodor Adorno.<ref name="Jay2019"/> | |||
== Political violence == | |||
{{anchor|Anders Behring Breivik}} | |||
], a prominent Jewish ]]] | |||
], which he said were a defense against Cultural Marxism<ref name=":1" /><ref name="QANTARA" /><ref name=":0" />]] | |||
There are some notable Jewish supporters of the conspiracy theory.<ref name="Jay2019"/> ] was at one time a student of Herbert Marcuse (with whom he disagreed) and edited ''].''<ref name="Jay2019"/><ref name="Braune 2019"/> Under Gottfried's tenure, ''Telos'' became far-right in its outlook, writing favorably about ] and ].<ref name="Braune 2019"/><ref name="Jay2019"/> Gottfried influenced Richard Spencer and has been called the "]" of the alt-right.<ref name="Jay2019"/><ref name="Braune 2019"/> He defended William Lind against accusations that "Cultural Marxism" has anti-semitic undertones.<ref name="Jay2019"/> Gottfried identifies as ] and questions the value of ].<ref name="Braune 2019"/> Gottfried defines cultural Marxism as "a particular movement for change that combines some elements of Marxist socialism with a call for sexual and cultural revolution". However, he says that the term "cultural Marxism" is not ideal since the connection with Marxism is tenuous.<ref name="GottfriedAntifascism">{{cite book |last=Gottfried |first=Paul |title=Antifascism: The Course of a Crusade |publisher=] |year=2021 |isbn=9781501759352}}</ref> Gottfried writes that the influence of the Frankfurt School lives on in modern left-wing politics mainly in the form of a tendency to conflate the right wing with fascism.<ref name="GottfriedAntifascism"/> | |||
On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik murdered 77 people in the ]. About 90 minutes before enacting the violence, Breivik e-mailed 1,003 people his manifesto ''2083: A European Declaration of Independence'' and a copy of ''Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology''.<ref name=":1">{{cite magazine |last1=Trilling |first1=Daniel |title=Who are Breivik's Fellow Travellers? |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2012/04/who-are-breivik%E2%80%99s-fellow-travellers |access-date=July 18, 2015 |magazine=] |date=April 18, 2012 |archive-date=July 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722052250/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2012/04/who-are-breivik%E2%80%99s-fellow-travellers |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="QANTARA">{{cite web |last1=Buruma |first1=Ian |title=Breivik's Call to Arms |url=http://en.qantara.de/content/islamophobia-in-europe-breiviks-call-to-arms |website=] |publisher=German Federal Agency for Civic Education & Deutsche Welle |date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725115001/http://en.qantara.de/content/islamophobia-in-europe-breiviks-call-to-arms |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |title='Breivik Manifesto' Details Chilling Attack Preparation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14267007 |access-date=August 2, 2015 |work=] |date=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924164256/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14267007 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cultural Marxism was the primary subject of Breivik's manifesto.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Khosravinik |editor1-first=Majid |editor2-last=Mral |editor2-first=Brigitte |editor3-last=Wodak |editor3-first=Ruth |title=Right-wing populism in Europe: Politics and discourse |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |isbn=978-1-7809-3245-3 |pages=96, 97 |edition=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Gerven Oei |first=Vincent W. J. |date=September 22, 2011 |title=Anders Breivik: On Copying the Obscure |url=http://www.continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/56 |journal=Continent. |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=213–223 |issn=2159-9920 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716125213/http://www.continentcontinent.cc/index.php/continent/article/view/56 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Breivik wrote that the "sexually transmitted disease (STD) epidemic in Western Europe is a result of cultural Marxism", that "Cultural Marxism defines Muslims, feminist women, homosexuals, and some additional minority groups, as virtuous, and they view ethnic Christian European men as evil" and that the "] (ECHR) in Strasbourg is a cultural-Marxist-controlled political entity."<ref name=":0"/><ref name="QANTARA"/><ref name="PINO">{{cite book |last1=Shanafelt |first1=Robert |last2=Pino |first2=Nathan W. |title=Rethinking Serial Murder, Spree Killing, and Atrocities: Beyond the Usual Distinctions |publisher=] |location=Abingdon, England |isbn=978-1-317-56467-6 |year=2014}}</ref> | |||
Other Jewish supporters include ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Jay2019"/> | |||
A number of other far-right terrorists have espoused the conspiracy theory. ], a ] ] convicted of plotting the assassination of Labour MP ], promoted the conspiracy theory in a video for the ].<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 12, 2018 |title=MP's murder was to be 'white jihad' |work=] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44452529 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |archive-date=June 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601071728/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44452529 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 24, 2019 |title=The story of Jack Renshaw: The ex-Manchester student and paedophile who plotted a murder |url=https://thetab.com/uk/2019/05/24/the-story-of-jack-renshaw-the-ex-manchester-student-and-paedophile-who-plotted-a-murder-102505 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |website=] |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612130506/https://thetab.com/uk/2019/05/24/the-story-of-jack-renshaw-the-ex-manchester-student-and-paedophile-who-plotted-a-murder-102505 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2018 |title=How did Jack Renshaw, star of the creepy BNP Youth video, end up attempting to murder an MP? |url=https://thetab.com/uk/2018/06/15/how-did-jack-renshaw-star-of-the-creepy-bnp-youth-video-end-up-attempting-to-murder-an-mp-68449 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |website=] |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612175032/https://thetab.com/uk/2018/06/15/how-did-jack-renshaw-star-of-the-creepy-bnp-youth-video-end-up-attempting-to-murder-an-mp-68449 |url-status=live}}</ref> John T. Earnest, the perpetrator of the 2019 ], was inspired by ] ideology. In an online manifesto, Earnest stated that he believed "every Jew is responsible for the meticulously planned ]" through the promotion of "cultural Marxism and communism."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lorber |first1=Ben |title=The Resurgence of Right-Wing Anti-Semitic Conspiracism Endangers All Justice Movements |url=https://rewirenewsgroup.com/religion-dispatches/2019/05/01/the-resurgence-of-right-wing-anti-semitic-conspiracism-endangers-all-justice-movements/ |website=Rewire News Group |date=May 1, 2019 |access-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025144547/https://rewirenewsgroup.com/religion-dispatches/2019/05/01/the-resurgence-of-right-wing-anti-semitic-conspiracism-endangers-all-justice-movements/ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Jewish supporters of the conspiracy theory are generally more ] (a term coined by Gottfried<ref name="Braune 2019"/>) than ].<ref name="Jay2019"/> Martin Jay calls the number of Jewish proponents of the conspiracy theory "puzzling and uncomfortable."<ref name="Jay2019"/> | |||
Concerning the real-life political violence caused by the conspiracy theory, law professor ] wrote: "That 'cultural Marxism' is a crude ], referring to something that does not exist, unfortunately does not mean actual people are not being set up to pay the price, as ]s, to appease a rising sense of anger and anxiety. And for that reason, 'cultural Marxism' is not only a sad diversion from framing legitimate grievances but also a dangerous lure in an increasingly unhinged moment."<ref name="Moyn 2018">{{cite news |title=Opinion {{!}} The Alt-Right's Favorite Meme is 100 Years Old |first=Samuel |last=Moyn |author-link=Samuel Moyn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html |newspaper=] |date=November 13, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=February 19, 2023 |archive-date=November 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113144428/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref> | |||
== Entering the mainstream == | |||
Rachel Busbridge, Benjamin Moffitt and Joshua Thorburn describe the conspiracy theory as being promoted by the far-right, but that it "has gained ground over the past quarter century" and conclude that "hrough the lens of the Cultural Marxist conspiracy, however, it is possible to discern a relationship of empowerment between mainstream and fringe, whereby certain talking points and tropes are able to be transmitted, taken up and adapted by 'mainstream' figures, thus giving credence and visibility to ideologies that would have previously been constrained to the margins."<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> | |||
== Analysis == | |||
], founder of ], authored a 2011 book ''Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World'' that represents one of the conspiracy theory's moves towards the mainstream.<ref name="Woods 2019"/><ref name="Jay2019"/> Breitbart's interpretation of the conspiracy is similar in most respects to that of Lind. Breitbart attributes the spread of the ideas of the Frankfurt School from universities to a wider audience to "trickledown intellectualism", and claims that ] introduced cultural Marxism to the masses in his 1971 handbook '']''. Woods argues that Breitbart focuses on Alinsky in order to associate cultural Marxism with the modern ], and ].<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Breitbart claims that ] funds the alleged cultural Marxism project.<ref name="Woods 2019"/> Martin Jay wrote that Breitbart's book displayed "appalling ignorance" of the actual work of the Frankfurt School.<ref name="Jay2019"/> | |||
Sociologists Julia Lux and John David Jordan argue that the conspiracy theory can be broken down into its key elements: "] anti-feminism, neo-] science (broadly defined as various forms of ]), genetic and cultural ], ] anti-Leftism fixated on ], radical ] applied to the social sciences, and the idea that a purge is required to restore normality." They go on to say that all of these items are "supported, proselytised and academically buoyed by intellectuals, politicians, and media figures with extremely credible educational backgrounds."<ref>{{cite book |first1=Julia |last1=Lux |last2=Jordan |first2=John David |editor1-first=Elke |editor1-last=Heins |editor2-first=James |editor2-last=Rees |date=July 22, 2019 |title=Social Policy Review: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy |publisher=] |chapter=7. Alt-Right 'cultural purity', ideology and mainstream social policy discourse: towards a political anthropology of 'mainstremeist' ideology |issue=31 |pages=151–176 |location=Bristol |doi=10.1332/policypress/9781447343981.001.0001 |isbn=978-1-4473-4398-1 |s2cid=213019061}}</ref> | |||
In "Taking On Hate: One NGO's Strategies" (2009), the political scientist Heidi Beirich says the Cultural Marxism theory ] the cultural '']'' of ] such as ], ], ], ], ], ]s, ] and ].<ref name="PERRY">{{cite book |editor1-last=Perry |editor1-first=Barbara |last1=Beirich |first1=Heidi |title=Hate crimes |date=2009 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-275-99569-0 |pages=119}}</ref> | |||
Breitbart News has published the idea that ]'s ] music was an attempt at inducing the population to ] on a mass scale.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Brown |first=Mark |date=January 2019 |title=In defence of degenerate art |url=http://socialistreview.org.uk/442/defence-degenerate-art |magazine=] |issue=442 |access-date=November 22, 2020 |quote=In 2015, Gerald Warner (the 'Tory intellectual' Scottish journalist) wrote an article for the American alt-right house journal Breitbart attacking the Frankfurt School of left-wing cultural theorists. His piece included this little gem: 'Theodor Adorno promoted degenerate atonal music to induce mental illness, including necrophilia, on a large scale.' |archive-date=August 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820022802/http://socialistreview.org.uk/442/defence-degenerate-art |url-status=live}}</ref> Former ] contributors ] and ], founder of ], have promoted the conspiracy theory, especially the claim that Cultural Marxist activity is happening in universities.<ref name="Braune 2019"/><ref>{{cite magazine |last=McManus |first=Matt |date=May 18, 2018 |url=https://merionwest.com/2018/05/18/on-marxism-post-modernism-and-cultural-marxism/ |title=On Marxism, Post-Modernism, and 'Cultural Marxism' |magazine=Merion West |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617192743/https://merionwest.com/2018/05/18/on-marxism-post-modernism-and-cultural-marxism/ |archive-date=June 17, 2020 |access-date=October 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/><ref name="Mirrlees 2018"/> | |||
In the late 2010s, Canadian clinical psychologist ] popularized "Cultural Marxism" as a term, moving it into mainstream discourse.<ref name="Sharpe 2020"/><ref name="Media"/><ref name="Berlatsky">{{cite web |first1=Noah |last1=Berlatsky |access-date=November 4, 2020 |title=How Anti-Leftism Has Made Jordan Peterson a Mark for Fascist Propaganda |url=https://psmag.com/education/jordan-peterson-sliding-toward-fascism |website=Pacific Standard |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613085727/https://psmag.com/education/jordan-peterson-sliding-toward-fascism |url-status=live}}</ref> Several writers stated that Peterson blamed "Cultural Marxism" for demanding the use of ] as a threat to free speech,<ref name="Sharpe 2020">{{cite web |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew |url=https://theconversation.com/is-cultural-marxism-really-taking-over-universities-i-crunched-some-numbers-to-find-out-139654 |title=Is 'cultural Marxism' Really Taking Over Universities? I Crunched Some Numbers to Find Out |website=The Conversation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006190450/https://theconversation.com/is-cultural-marxism-really-taking-over-universities-i-crunched-some-numbers-to-find-out-139654 |archive-date=October 6, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=October 6, 2020}}</ref> often misusing '']'' as a stand-in term for the conspiracy without understanding its ] implications, specifying that "Peterson isn't an ideological anti-Semite; there's every reason to believe that when he re-broadcasts fascist propaganda, he doesn't even hear the dog-whistles he's emitting".<ref name="Berlatsky"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Burston |first=Daniel |year=2020 |chapter=Jordan Peterson and the Postmodern University |title=Psychoanalysis, Politics and the Postmodern University |series=Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice |location=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=129–156 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-34921-9_7 |isbn=978-3-030-34921-9 |s2cid=214014811 |via=Springer Link}}</ref> | |||
In 2015, after the '']'' trailer release, one of the initial Twitter accounts that spread accusations that the film was "anti-white" (because its lead characters were not white men) had the tagline "End Cultural Marxism" and promoted the conspiracy theory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Ben |date=October 27, 2015 |title=The Star Wars Boycott, the Frankfurt School, and Cultural Marxism |url=https://news.artnet.com/opinion/cultural-marxism-boycott-star-wars-348914 |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Koski |first=Genevieve |date=October 19, 2015 |title=How 2 racist trolls got a ridiculous Star Wars boycott trending on Twitter |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/10/19/9571309/star-wars-boycott |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McMillan |first=Graeme |date=October 19, 2015 |title="Boycott 'Star Wars VII'" Movement Launched; Movie Called "Anti-White" |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/boycott-star-wars-vii-movement-833102/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=] |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
In June 2018, ] posted a tweet containing a racist cartoon and a caption which mentioned Cultural Marxism. The tweet read "Are you stunned by what has become of American culture? Well, it's not an accident. You've probably heard of 'Cultural Marxism,’ but do you know what it means?". The tweet was later deleted with an apology, stating that a staff member had inadvertently posted what Paul described as an "offensive cartoon".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Ron Paul Tweets Racist Cartoon, Blames Staffer In Latest Deflection Of Bigoted Remarks Attributed To Libertarian Hero |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/ron-paul-racist-tweet-newsletter-anti-semitic/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |work=] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Moyn |first=Samuel |date=November 13, 2018 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Alt-Right's Favorite Meme Is 100 Years Old |language=en-US |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/opinion/cultural-marxism-anti-semitism.html |access-date=February 19, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mathis-Lilley |first=Ben |date=July 2, 2018 |title=Ron Paul Becomes Latest Republican to Post Literal Nazi Content |language=en-US |work=] |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/ron-paul-racist-caricature-tweet-republican-pattern.html |access-date=February 19, 2023 |issn=1091-2339}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 2, 2018 |title=Ron Paul tweets, then deletes racist cartoon |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ron-paul-racism-republican-party-racist-tweet-cultural-marxism-libertarian-a8427781.html |access-date=February 19, 2023 |work=] |language=en}}</ref> | |||
In a 2020 ] opinion column, ] equated Cultural Marxism with what ] calls the ].<ref name="Douthat2020">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/nyt-tom-cotton-oped-liberalism.html |last=Douthat |first=Ross |title=Ross Douthat: The Tom Cotton Op-Ed and the Cultural Revolution |work=] |date=June 12, 2020}}</ref> | |||
=== Concerns for false balance === | |||
Spencer Sunshine, an associate fellow at the ], stated that "the focus on the Frankfurt School by the right serves to highlight its inherent Jewishness."<ref name="Paul 2019">{{cite web |last=Paul |first=Ari |date=June 4, 2019 |title='Cultural Marxism': The Mainstreaming of a Nazi Trope |url=https://fair.org/home/cultural-marxism-the-mainstreaming-of-a-nazi-trope/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022045211/https://fair.org/home/cultural-marxism-the-mainstreaming-of-a-nazi-trope/ |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |access-date=October 24, 2020 |publisher=Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting}}</ref> In particular, Paul and Sunshine have criticized traditional media such as ''The New York Times'', '']'' and '']'' for their coverage of the conspiracy theory, arguing that they have either not clarified the nature of the conspiracy theory or "allow it to live on their pages."<ref name="Paul 2019"/> An example is an article in ''The New York Times'' by ], who Paul and Sunshine argue "rebrands cultural Marxism as mere political correctness, giving the Nazi-inspired phrase legitimacy for the American right. It is dropped in or quoted in other stories—some of them lighthearted, like the fashion cues of the alt-right—without describing how fringe this notion is. It's akin to letting conspiracy theories about ] or ] get unearned space in mainstream press."<ref name="Paul 2019"/> Another is ], who went on "to denounce 'cultural Marxists' for inspiring ] movements on campuses."<ref name="Paul 2019"/> Paul and Sunshine argued that failure to highlight the nature of the conspiracy theory "has bitter consequences. 'It is legitimizing the use of that framework, and therefore it's coded antisemitism.'"<ref name="Paul 2019"/> | |||
Sociologists Julia Lux and John David Jordan assert that the conspiracy theory can be broken down into its key elements: "] anti-feminism, neo-] science (broadly defined as various forms of ]), genetic and cultural ], ] anti-Leftism fixated on ], radical ] applied to the social sciences, and the idea that a purge is required to restore normality." They go on to say that all of these items are "supported, proselytised and academically buoyed by intellectuals, politicians, and media figures with extremely credible educational backgrounds."<ref>{{cite book |first1=Julia |last1=Lux |last2=Jordan |first2=John David |editor1-first=Elke |editor1-last=Heins |editor2-first=James |editor2-last=Rees |date=July 22, 2019 |title=Social Policy Review: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy |publisher=] |chapter=7. Alt-Right 'cultural purity', ideology and mainstream social policy discourse: towards a political anthropology of 'mainstremeist' ideology |issue=31 |pages=151–176 |location=Bristol |language=en |doi=10.1332/policypress/9781447343981.001.0001 |isbn=9781447343981 |s2cid=213019061 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRGjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |access-date=March 29, 2021 |via=]}}</ref> | |||
== Political discourses == | |||
In "Taking On Hate: One NGO's Strategies" (2009), the political scientist Heidi Beirich said that the Cultural Marxism theory ] the cultural '']'' of ] such as ], ], ], ], ], ]s, ] and ].<ref name="PERRY">{{cite book |editor1-last=Perry |editor1-first=Barbara |last1=Beirich |first1=Heidi |title=Hate crimes |date=2009 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-275-99569-0 |pages=119 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7p6TDR1zwcC&pg=PA109 |access-date=November 30, 2015 |archive-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828115957/https://books.google.com/books?id=M7p6TDR1zwcC&pg=PA109 |url-status=live |via=]}}</ref> | |||
Jamin writes on the flexibility of the conspiracy theory to serve the rhetorical purposes of different groups with diverse sets of enemies: | Jamin writes on the flexibility of the conspiracy theory to serve the rhetorical purposes of different groups with diverse sets of enemies: | ||
{{Blockquote|Next to the global dimension of the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, there is its innovative and original dimension, which lets its authors avoid racist discourses and pretend to be defenders of democracy. As such, Cultural Marxism is innovative in comparison with old styled theories of a similar nature, such as those involving ]s, Bavarian ], ] or even ] bankers. For Lind, Buchanan and Breivik, the threat does not come from the migrant or the Jew because he is a migrant or a Jew. For Lind, the threat comes from the ] ideology, which is considered as a danger for freedom and democracy, and which is associated with different authoritarian political regimes (Russia, China, Cambodia, Cuba, etc.). For Buchanan, the threat comes from ], ] and hard capitalism which, when combined, transform people and nations into an uncontrolled mass of alienated consumers. For Breivik, a self-indoctrinated lone-wolf, the danger comes from Islam, a religion seen as a totalitarian ideology which threatens liberal democracies from Western Europe as much as its Judeo-Christian heritage. In Lind, Buchanan and Breivik, overt racism is studiously avoided.<ref name="Jamin"/>}} | {{Blockquote|Next to the global dimension of the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, there is its innovative and original dimension, which lets its authors avoid racist discourses and pretend to be defenders of democracy. As such, Cultural Marxism is innovative in comparison with old styled theories of a similar nature, such as those involving ]s, Bavarian ], ] or even ] bankers. For Lind, Buchanan and Breivik, the threat does not come from the migrant or the Jew because he is a migrant or a Jew. For Lind, the threat comes from the ] ideology, which is considered as a danger for freedom and democracy, and which is associated with different authoritarian political regimes (Russia, China, Cambodia, Cuba, etc.). For Buchanan, the threat comes from ], ] and hard capitalism which, when combined, transform people and nations into an uncontrolled mass of alienated consumers. For Breivik, a self-indoctrinated lone-wolf, the danger comes from Islam, a religion seen as a totalitarian ideology which threatens liberal democracies from Western Europe as much as its Judeo-Christian heritage. In Lind, Buchanan and Breivik, overt racism is studiously avoided.<ref name="Jamin"/>}} | ||
Literary scholar Aaron Hanlon says "the objectives of proponents of conspiratorial views about Cultural Marxism were (and are) not to give a current account of Critical Theory, but to advance a conservative version of US liberalism against the scapegoat of global conspiracy theory" and "In short, what Critical Theory provides to those who use 'critical theory' to signal a socialist threat to liberalism is not only a link to Marxist thought, but also a ] against which to advance ] politics."<ref name="Hanlon 2021">{{Cite book |editor-last=McManus |editor-first=Matthew |last=Hanlon |first=Aaron |title=Liberalism and Socialism: Mortal Enemies or Embittered Kin? |date=2021 |publisher=] |isbn=978-3-030-79537-5 |pages= |chapter=Disambiguating Critical Theory}}{{page needed|date=June 2023}}</ref> | |||
Philosophy professor Matthew Sharpe on '']'' noted that "The last four decades have seen a relative ''decline'' of Marxist thought in academia. Its influence has been superseded by ']' (or ']') thinkers like ], ], ] and ]. Post-structuralism is primarily indebted to thinkers of the European 'conservative revolution' led by ] and ]. Where Marxism is built on hopes for reason, revolution and social progress, post-structuralist thinkers roundly reject such optimistic 'grand narratives'. Post-structuralists are as preoccupied with culture as our conservative news columnists. But their analyses of identity and difference challenge the primacy Marxism affords to economics as much as they oppose liberal or conservative ideas."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharpe |first=Matthew |date=2020-09-07 |title=Is 'cultural Marxism' really taking over universities? I crunched some numbers to find out |url=http://theconversation.com/is-cultural-marxism-really-taking-over-universities-i-crunched-some-numbers-to-find-out-139654 |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=The Conversation |language=en}}</ref> | |||
==By country== | |||
=== Australia === | === Australia === | ||
Shortly after the Norway attacks, mainstream right-wing politicians began espousing the conspiracy. In 2013, ], a member of the ruling ], wrote in his book ''The Conservative Revolution'' that "cultural Marxism has been one of the most corrosive influences on society over the last century."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Busbridge |first1=Rachel |last2=Moffitt |first2=Benjamin |last3=Thorburn |first3=Joshua |title=Cultural Marxism: far-right conspiracy theory in Australia's culture wars |journal=Social Identities |date=June 29, 2020 |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=722–738 |doi=10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822 |s2cid=225713131 |
Shortly after the Norway attacks, mainstream right-wing politicians began espousing the conspiracy. In 2013, ], a member of the ruling ], wrote in his book ''The Conservative Revolution'' that "cultural Marxism has been one of the most corrosive influences on society over the last century."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Busbridge |first1=Rachel |last2=Moffitt |first2=Benjamin |last3=Thorburn |first3=Joshua |title=Cultural Marxism: far-right conspiracy theory in Australia's culture wars |journal=Social Identities |date=June 29, 2020 |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=722–738 |doi=10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822 |s2cid=225713131}}</ref> Five years later, ], former Australian Senator, initially sitting as a member of ] and then ], declared during his ] in 2018 that "Cultural Marxism is not a throwaway line but a literal truth" and spoke of the need for a "] to the immigration problem."<ref name="Busbridge, Moffitt & Thorburn 2020"/> | ||
=== Brazil === | === Brazil === | ||
Line 148: | Line 129: | ||
=== Cuba === | === Cuba === | ||
In 2010, former head of state ] called attention to a version of the conspiracy theory by ], which proposed that the ] sought to influence world events via the spread of ] music.<ref name="Jay"/> Estulin's work was based on Minnicino's 1992 essay which emphasized Adorno's involvement in the ]. Martin Jay described Estulin's text as "risible" and explained that, although some in the Frankfurt School wrote about the potential for mass media to pacify labor movements, it was something they lamented rather than planned to implement.<ref name="Jay"/> Castro invited Estulin to Cuba, where they issued a joint statement claiming ] was a CIA asset and that the United States was planning a nuclear war against Russia. In 2019, Jay wrote that Castro's interest in the conspiracy theory had no long-term consequences.<ref name=" |
In 2010, former head of state ] called attention to a version of the conspiracy theory by ], which proposed that the ] sought to influence world events via the spread of ] music.<ref name="Jay 2010"/> Estulin's work was based on Minnicino's 1992 essay which emphasized Adorno's involvement in the ]. Martin Jay described Estulin's text as "risible" and explained that, although some in the Frankfurt School wrote about the potential for mass media to pacify labor movements, it was something they lamented rather than planned to implement.<ref name="Jay 2010"/> Castro invited Estulin to Cuba, where they issued a joint statement claiming ] was a CIA asset and that the United States was planning a nuclear war against Russia. In 2019, Jay wrote that Castro's interest in the conspiracy theory had no long-term consequences.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | ||
=== Hungary === | === Hungary === | ||
Hungarian prime minister ] has invoked a cultural Marxism ] in justifying certain illiberal policies and authoritarian centralization of power.<ref name=" |
Hungarian prime minister ] has invoked a cultural Marxism ] in justifying certain illiberal policies and authoritarian centralization of power.<ref name="Paternotte 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Paternotte |first1=David |last2=Verloo |first2=Mieke |title=De-democratization and the Politics of Knowledge: Unpacking the Cultural Marxism Narrative |journal=Social Politics |date=2021 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=556–578 |issn=1072-4745 |doi=10.1093/sp/jxab025 |doi-access=free|hdl=2066/245750 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Orbán, who wrote a master's thesis on Antonio Gramsci, references Gramscian cultural hegemony as an impetus to contest left-aligned epistemic institutions, including universities and the media. In alignment with the cultural Marxism frame, Hungarian minister Bence Rétvári said that gender studies should be regarded as ideology rather than science. The Hungarian government withdrew state recognition of gender studies degree programs in 2018.<ref name="Paternotte 2021"/> | ||
=== United Kingdom === | === United Kingdom === | ||
During the ] debate in 2019, a number of ] and ]s were criticized for using the phrase "cultural Marxism" due to its conspiracy theory connotations.<ref name="Manavis 2019"/><ref name="Walker 2020"/> | During the ] debate in 2019, a number of ] and ]s were criticized for using the phrase "cultural Marxism" due to its conspiracy theory connotations.<ref name="Manavis 2019"/><ref name="Walker 2020"/> | ||
], a British ], ignited controversy by using the term "Cultural Marxism".]] | ], a British ], ignited controversy by using the term "Cultural Marxism".]] | ||
], the Conservative ] (MP), said in a pro-Brexit speech for the ], a ] think tank, that "e are engaging in many battles right now. As Conservatives, we are engaged in a battle against cultural Marxism, where banning things is becoming ''de rigueur'', where freedom of speech is becoming a taboo, where our universities — quintessential institutions of ] — are being shrouded in censorship and a culture of no-platforming." Her usage of the conspiracy theory was condemned as ] by other MPs, the ] and the anti-racist organization ]. After meeting with her later, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that she is "not in any way antisemitic." Braverman was alerted to this connection by journalist ], but she defended using the term.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tory MP Suella Braverman 'not in any way antisemitic', says Board after 'productive meeting' |date=April 3, 2019 |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tory-mp-suella-braverma-not-in-any-way-antisemitic-says-board-after-productive-meeting-1.482524 |newspaper=] |access-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124142714/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tory-mp-suella-braverma-not-in-any-way-antisemitic-says-board-after-productive-meeting-1.482524 |url-status=live}}</ref> Braverman denied that the term |
], the Conservative ] (MP), said in a pro-Brexit speech for the ], a ] think tank, that "e are engaging in many battles right now. As Conservatives, we are engaged in a battle against cultural Marxism, where banning things is becoming ''de rigueur'', where freedom of speech is becoming a taboo, where our universities — quintessential institutions of ] — are being shrouded in censorship and a culture of no-platforming." Her usage of the conspiracy theory was condemned as ] by other MPs, the ] and the anti-racist organization ]. After meeting with her later, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that she is "not in any way antisemitic." Braverman was alerted to this connection by journalist ], but she defended using the term.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tory MP Suella Braverman 'not in any way antisemitic', says Board after 'productive meeting' |date=April 3, 2019 |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tory-mp-suella-braverma-not-in-any-way-antisemitic-says-board-after-productive-meeting-1.482524 |newspaper=] |access-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124142714/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tory-mp-suella-braverma-not-in-any-way-antisemitic-says-board-after-productive-meeting-1.482524 |url-status=live}}</ref> Braverman denied that the term Cultural Marxism is an antisemitic trope,<ref name="Manavis 2019">{{cite news |last=Manavis |first=Sarah |date=March 26, 2019 |title=What is cultural Marxism? The alt-right meme in Suella Braverman's speech in Westminster |newspaper=] |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/03/what-cultural-marxism-alt-right-meme-suella-bravermans-speech-westminster |url-status=live |access-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124142652/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/03/what-cultural-marxism-alt-right-meme-suella-bravermans-speech-westminster |archive-date=November 24, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=February 13, 2020 |title=New attorney general wants to 'take back control' from courts |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/13/new-attorney-general-wanted-to-take-back-control-from-courts |access-date=September 12, 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=September 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908074714/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/13/new-attorney-general-wanted-to-take-back-control-from-courts |url-status=live}}</ref> stating during a question and answer session "whether she stood by the term, given its far-right connections. She said: 'Yes, I do believe we are in a battle against cultural Marxism, as I said. We have culture evolving from the far left which has allowed the snuffing out of freedom of speech, freedom of thought.'" Braverman further added that she was "very aware of that ongoing creep of cultural Marxism, which has come from ]."<ref>{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=March 26, 2019 |title=Tory MP criticised for using antisemitic term 'cultural Marxism' |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/26/tory-mp-criticised-for-using-antisemitic-term-cultural-marxism |access-date=September 12, 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=September 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913100721/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/26/tory-mp-criticised-for-using-antisemitic-term-cultural-marxism |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sugarman |first=Daniel |date=March 26, 2019 |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/board-of-deputies-rebuke-conservative-mp-suella-braverman-for-using-antisemitic-trope-1.482150 |access-date=September 12, 2020 |newspaper=] |title=Board of Deputies rebuke Conservative MP Suella Braverman for using 'antisemitic trope' |archive-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904232420/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/board-of-deputies-rebuke-conservative-mp-suella-braverman-for-using-antisemitic-trope-1.482150 |url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
] has promoted the cultural Marxist conspiracy theory, for which he has been condemned by Jewish groups such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews as well as a number of Members of Parliament who said he used it as a ] code for ]. Farage said that the United Kingdom faced "cultural Marxism", a term described in its report by '']'' as "originating in a conspiracy theory based on a supposed plot against national governments, which is closely linked to the far right and antisemitism." Farage's spokesman "condemned previous criticism of his language by Jewish groups and others as 'pathetic' and 'a manufactured story.'"<ref name="Walker 2020">{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=June 28, 2020 |title=Jewish groups and MPs condemn Nigel Farage over antisemitic 'dog whistles' |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/28/jewish-groups-and-mps-condemn-nigel-farage-for-antisemitic-dog-whistles |access-date=September 11, 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904140432/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/28/jewish-groups-and-mps-condemn-nigel-farage-for-antisemitic-dog-whistles |url-status=live}}</ref> | ] has promoted the cultural Marxist conspiracy theory, for which he has been condemned by Jewish groups, such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, as well as a number of Members of Parliament, who said he used it as a ] code for ]. Farage said that the United Kingdom faced "cultural Marxism", a term described in its report by '']'' as "originating in a conspiracy theory based on a supposed plot against national governments, which is closely linked to the ] and antisemitism." Farage's spokesman "condemned previous criticism of his language by Jewish groups and others as 'pathetic' and 'a manufactured story.'"<ref name="Walker 2020">{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=June 28, 2020 |title=Jewish groups and MPs condemn Nigel Farage over antisemitic 'dog whistles' |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/28/jewish-groups-and-mps-condemn-nigel-farage-for-antisemitic-dog-whistles |access-date=September 11, 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904140432/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/28/jewish-groups-and-mps-condemn-nigel-farage-for-antisemitic-dog-whistles |url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
In ''The War Against the BBC'' (2020), ] and ] write how the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory has been pushed by some on the right as part of an alleged ]. ] cites ], ] and the right-wing website '']'' as examples of "relentlessly about the institution's 'cultural Marxism' or left-wing bias. This now happens on a near-daily basis."<ref>{{cite news |last=Alibhai-Brown |first=Yasmin |date=October 20, 2020 |url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/bbc-threat-licence-fee-dominic-cummings-732259 |title=Our BBC is under existential threat from right-wing, Trumpian tactics |newspaper=] |access-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-date=November 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102051815/https://inews.co.uk/opinion/bbc-threat-licence-fee-dominic-cummings-732259 |url-status=live}}</ref> | In ''The War Against the BBC'' (2020), ] and ] write how the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory has been pushed by some on the right as part of an alleged ]. ] cites ], ] and the right-wing website '']'' as examples of "relentlessly about the institution's 'cultural Marxism' or left-wing bias. This now happens on a near-daily basis."<ref>{{cite news |last=Alibhai-Brown |first=Yasmin |date=October 20, 2020 |url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/bbc-threat-licence-fee-dominic-cummings-732259 |title=Our BBC is under existential threat from right-wing, Trumpian tactics |newspaper=] |access-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-date=November 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102051815/https://inews.co.uk/opinion/bbc-threat-licence-fee-dominic-cummings-732259 |url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
In November 2020 a letter signed by 28 ] ] published in '']'' accused the ] of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the '] agenda'".<ref>{{cite letter |author=Sir John Hays MP |display-authors=etal |recipient=the ''Daily Telegraph'' |subject=Britain's heroes |
In November 2020, a letter signed by 28 ] ], published in '']'', accused the ] of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the '] agenda'".<ref>{{cite letter |author=Sir John Hays MP |display-authors=etal |recipient=the ''Daily Telegraph'' |subject=Britain's heroes |date=November 9, 2020 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/11/09/letterswill-police-break-armistice-day-ceremonies-wednesday/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/11/09/letterswill-police-break-armistice-day-ceremonies-wednesday/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=January 30, 2021 |author-mask=}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.edwardleigh.org.uk/news/letter-telegraph |title=Letter to the Telegraph |last=Leigh |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Leigh |date=November 11, 2020 |website=Sir Edward Leigh MP |access-date=June 10, 2020 |quote=Part of our mission is to ensure that institutional custodians of history and heritage, tasked with safeguarding and celebrating British values, are not coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the "woke agenda".}}</ref> The use of this terminology in the letter was described by the ], ], anti-racist charity ] and the ] as antisemitic.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tory-mps-and-peers-warned-over-use-of-the-term-cultural-marxism-1.508974 |title=Tory MPs and peers warned over use of the term 'cultural Marxism' |first=Lee |last=Harpin |date=November 24, 2020 |work=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124163050/https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/tory-mps-and-peers-warned-over-use-of-the-term-cultural-marxism-1.508974 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Childs 2020">{{cite web |last=Childs |first=Simon |title=28 Tories Wrote About an Anti-Semitic Trope and No One Seemed to Notice |website=VICE |date=November 13, 2020 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkdpby/tories-telegraph-cultural-marxism-letter |access-date=May 4, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Left Foot Forward 2020">{{cite web |title=EXCLUSIVE: Leading Tories challenged for using phrase linked to 'anti-Semitic dog-whistle' |website=Left Foot Forward |date=November 11, 2020 |url=https://leftfootforward.org/2020/11/why-are-leading-tories-using-a-phrase-linked-to-an-anti-semitic-dog-whistle/ |access-date=May 4, 2021}}</ref> | ||
=== United States === | === United States === | ||
Cultural Marxism discourse was found in several strands of U.S. right-wing politics post-2000, including the religious right and the ].<ref name="Collectivists">{{cite journal |url=http://crs.sagepub.com/content/38/4/565.abstract |title=Collectivists, Communists, Labor Bosses, and Treason: The Tea Parties as Right-wing Populist Counter-Subversion Panic |first1=Chip |last1=Berlet |author1-link=Chip Berlet |journal=] |publisher=] |location=Thousand Oaks, California |date=July 2012 |volume=38 |pages=565–587 |doi=10.1177/0896920511434750 |issue=4 |s2cid=144238367 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115213944/http://crs.sagepub.com/content/38/4/565.abstract |archive-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> | Cultural Marxism discourse was found in several strands of U.S. right-wing politics post-2000, including the religious right and the ].<ref name="Collectivists">{{cite journal |url=http://crs.sagepub.com/content/38/4/565.abstract |title=Collectivists, Communists, Labor Bosses, and Treason: The Tea Parties as Right-wing Populist Counter-Subversion Panic |first1=Chip |last1=Berlet |author1-link=Chip Berlet |journal=] |publisher=] |location=Thousand Oaks, California |date=July 2012 |volume=38 |pages=565–587 |doi=10.1177/0896920511434750 |issue=4 |s2cid=144238367 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115213944/http://crs.sagepub.com/content/38/4/565.abstract |archive-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> | ||
Shortly after the ], Alex Ross wrote an article in '']'' titled, "The Frankfurt School Knew Trump was Coming". It argued that Trump represented the kind of authoritarian identified by Theodor Adorno's ]. This idea prompted academic conferences on the same theme at the ] and the ].<ref name=" |
Shortly after the ], Alex Ross wrote an article in '']'' titled, "The Frankfurt School Knew Trump was Coming". It argued that Trump represented the kind of authoritarian identified by Theodor Adorno's ]. This idea prompted academic conferences on the same theme at the ] and the ].<ref name="Jay 2020"/> Martin Jay linked election rhetoric of Trump supporters as "]" to Adorno's authoritarian personality concept, saying it "counterproductively forecloses treating those it categorized as anything but objects of contempt." Jay encouraged empathy and dialogue to resolve political polarization.<ref name="Jay 2020"/> | ||
In 2017, it was reported that advisor |
In 2017, it was reported that advisor ] was fired from the ] for publishing the memorandum '"POTUS & Political Warfare" that alleged the existence of a left-wing conspiracy to destroy ]'s presidency because "American public intellectuals of Cultural Marxism, foreign Islamicists, and ] bankers, the news media, and politicians from the Republican and Democratic parties were attacking Trump, because he represents an existential threat to the cultural Marxist memes that dominate the prevailing cultural narrative in the US."<ref name="GuardianHiggins">{{cite news |first=David |last=Smith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/13/donald-trump-white-house-steve-bannon-rich-higgins |title=How Trump's Paranoid White House Sees 'Deep State' Enemies on all Sides |date=August 13, 2017 |newspaper=] |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=August 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814084406/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/13/donald-trump-white-house-steve-bannon-rich-higgins |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first1=Jana |last1=Winter |first2=Elias |last2=Groll |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/10/heres-the-memo-that-blew-up-the-nsc/ |title=Here's the Memo That Blew Up the NSC |date=August 10, 2017 |magazine=] |access-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-date=August 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815003448/http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/10/heres-the-memo-that-blew-up-the-nsc/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Rosie |last=Gray |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/a-national-security-council-staffer-is-forced-out-over-a-controversial-memo/535725/ |title=An NSC Staffer Is Forced Out Over a Controversial Memo |date=August 2, 2017 |magazine=] |access-date=September 30, 2020 |archive-date=August 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814175209/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/a-national-security-council-staffer-is-forced-out-over-a-controversial-memo/535725/ |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}</ref> Higgins also asserted that the Frankfurt School "sought to deconstruct everything in order to destroy it, giving rise to society-wide nihilism."<ref name="Braune 2019"/><ref>{{cite news |first1=Jeet |last1=Heer |access-date=May 8, 2021 |title=Trump's Racism and the Myth of "Cultural Marxism" |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/144317/trumps-racism-myth-cultural-marxism |newspaper=] |date=August 15, 2017 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref><ref name="GuardianHiggins" /> The memo was read by Donald Trump Jr. who passed on a copy of it to his father.<ref name="Jeffries2021"/> | ||
], a |
], a ] former member of the ] has also promoted Higgins' memo.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jason |date=November 3, 2018 |title=Washington Republican under fire for setting out 'Biblical Basis for War' |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/03/matt-shea-washington-republican-biblical-basis-for-war |access-date=October 3, 2020 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=August 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831113304/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/03/matt-shea-washington-republican-biblical-basis-for-war |url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
In June 2023, ] and ] for ] in the ] ] defined "]" as a "form of Cultural Marxism".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scully |first=Rachel |date=June 3, 2023 |title=DeSantis defines 'woke' as 'a war on the truth' after Trump said people 'can't define it' |work=] |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4033266-desantis-defines-woke-as-a-war-on-the-truth-after-trump-said-people-cant-define-it/ |access-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-date=June 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611151926/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4033266-desantis-defines-woke-as-a-war-on-the-truth-after-trump-said-people-cant-define-it/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Texas U.S. senator ] used both terms in the title of his 2023 book, ''Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America |year=2023 |author=Ted Cruz |publisher=Regnery |isbn=978-1684513628}}</ref> | |||
=== Gamergate === | |||
=== South Korea === | |||
] was an online harassment campaign beginning in 2014, particularly targeting women, that had the purported aim of promoting ethics in video games journalism.<ref name="Salter2017_subpolitics" /><ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020">{{cite book|last1=Mortensen|first1=Torill Elvira|last2=Sihvonen|first2=Tanja|chapter=Negative Emotions Set in Motion: The Continued Relevance of #GamerGate|title=The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance|pages=1353–1374|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-78440-3_75|isbn=978-3-319-78440-3|editor-last1=Holt|editor-last2=Bossler|year=2020|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|chapter-url=https://osuva.uwasa.fi/handle/10024/10685 }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Participants in Gamergate referred to their opposition as cultural Marxists, and cited free-speech grounds to justify harassing their targets.<ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020" /> Noted harassment associated with the online movement included ], ], and threats of rape and death.<ref name="Salter2017_subpolitics" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020" /> Torill Mortensen and Tanja Sihvonen described one Gamergate figure's connection of cultural Marxism with the Frankfurt School as "to a certain degree correct" but conflated with old and unfounded conspiracy theories.<ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020"/> Michael Salter noted the role of new online platforms in the abuse and hostility toward women; his analysis used elements of critical theory including ].<ref name="Salter2017_masculinity">{{cite journal |last=Salter |first=Michael |title=From geek masculinity to Gamergate: the technological rationality of online abuse |journal=Crime, Media, Culture |publisher=SAGE journals |doi=10.1177/1741659017690893 |year=2017|volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=247–264 |s2cid=152187355 }}</ref><ref name="Salter2017_subpolitics">{{cite book |last=Salter |first=Michael |chapter=Gamergate and the subpolitics of abuse in online publics |title=Crime, Justice and Social Media |editor-last=DeKeseredy |editor-first=Walter S.|isbn=9781138919679 |publisher=] |year=2017}}</ref> The ] described the Gamergate campaign as one in a number of examples of ], which it said views society as "a matriarchy propped up by 'cultural Marxism' meant to eradicate or subjugate men".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Male Supremacy |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/male-supremacy |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=] |language=en}}</ref> | |||
] chairperson ] stated "Many cultural Marxists declared 'Our fundamental enemy is Christianity' and promoted homosexuality as a means of bringing about a communist revolution.".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Ko|first1=Na-rin|last2=Ko|first2=Kyung-Tae|url=https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/1156354.html|title= 안창호 "차별금지법, 공산주의 혁명 이용될 수 있어 우려" |newspaper=]|date=2024-09-02 |accessdate=4 September 2024|language=en}}</ref> During nomination hearing he said "I have heard that there are some ]s who suggest that ] is a key means in a ]." and " ]s and ] operate with impunity in society."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1157006.html |title=Nominee to lead Korean human rights watchdog doubles down on derogatory rhetoric |newspaper=] |accessdate=4 September 2024|language=en}}</ref> | |||
== Online harassment == | |||
] was an online harassment campaign beginning in 2014, particularly targeting women, that had the purported aim of promoting ethics in video games journalism.<ref name="Salter2017_subpolitics">{{cite book |last=Salter |first=Michael |title=Crime, Justice and Social Media |publisher=] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-91967-9 |editor-last=DeKeseredy |editor-first=Walter S. |series=New Directions in Critical Criminology |location=London |chapter=Gamergate and the subpolitics of abuse in online publics}}</ref><ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020">{{cite book |last1=Mortensen |first1=Torill Elvira |last2=Sihvonen |first2=Tanja |chapter=Negative Emotions Set in Motion: The Continued Relevance of #GamerGate |title=The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance |pages=1353–1374 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-78440-3_75 |isbn=978-3-319-78440-3 |editor-last1=Holt |editor-last2=Bossler |year=2020 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |chapter-url=https://pure.itu.dk/ws/files/86681493/Osuva_Mortensen_Sihvonen_2020.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Participants in Gamergate referred to their opposition as cultural Marxists, and cited free-speech grounds to justify harassing their targets.<ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020" /> Noted harassment associated with the online movement included ], ], and threats of rape and death.<ref name="Salter2017_subpolitics" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="MortensenSihvonen2020" /> The ] described the Gamergate campaign as one in a number of examples of ], which it said views society as "a matriarchy propped up by 'cultural Marxism' meant to eradicate or subjugate men".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Male Supremacy |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/male-supremacy |access-date=December 17, 2022 |website=]}}</ref> | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
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== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
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== Further reading == | == Further reading == | ||
* {{cite journal |last1=Catlin |first1=Jonathon |title=The Frankfurt School on Antisemitism, Authoritarianism, and Right-wing Radicalism: The Politics of Unreason: The Frankfurt School and the Origins of Modern Antisemitism, by Lars Rensmann, Albany, NY, SUNY Press, 2017, xv + 600 pp., $25.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-43846-594-4 |journal=European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology |year=2020 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=198–214 |doi=10.1080/23254823.2020.1742018|s2cid=216306994 |
* {{cite journal |last1=Catlin |first1=Jonathon |title=The Frankfurt School on Antisemitism, Authoritarianism, and Right-wing Radicalism: The Politics of Unreason: The Frankfurt School and the Origins of Modern Antisemitism, by Lars Rensmann, Albany, NY, SUNY Press, 2017, xv + 600 pp., $25.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-43846-594-4 |journal=European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology |year=2020 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=198–214 |doi=10.1080/23254823.2020.1742018 |s2cid=216306994}} | ||
* {{cite journal |last1=De Bruin |first1=Robin |title=European union as a road to serfdom: The Alt-Right's inversion of narratives on European integration |journal=Journal of Contemporary European Studies |date=2021 |volume=30 |pages=52–66 |doi=10.1080/14782804.2021.1960489|s2cid=238810398 |doi-access=free }} | * {{cite journal |last1=De Bruin |first1=Robin |title=European union as a road to serfdom: The Alt-Right's inversion of narratives on European integration |journal=Journal of Contemporary European Studies |date=2021 |volume=30 |pages=52–66 |doi=10.1080/14782804.2021.1960489 |s2cid=238810398 |doi-access=free|hdl=11245.1/76db2cfc-4262-4059-bea4-eb310bc689dd |hdl-access=free }} | ||
* {{cite book |last1=Grumke |first1=Thomas |title=Die Neue Rechte — eine Gefahr für die Demokratie? |trans-title=The New Right—A Danger to Democracy? |publisher=VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften |isbn=978-3-322-81016-8 |pages=175–185 |language=de |chapter='Take this country back!': Die neue Rechte in den USA |date=2004}} | * {{cite book |last1=Grumke |first1=Thomas |title=Die Neue Rechte — eine Gefahr für die Demokratie? |trans-title=The New Right—A Danger to Democracy? |publisher=VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften |isbn=978-3-322-81016-8 |pages=175–185 |language=de |chapter='Take this country back!': Die neue Rechte in den USA |date=2004}} | ||
* {{cite journal |last1=Jamin |first1=Jérôme |title=Anders Breivik et le |
* {{cite journal |last1=Jamin |first1=Jérôme |title=Anders Breivik et le 'marxisme culturel': Etats-Unis/Europe |journal=Amnis |year=2013 |issue=12 |doi=10.4000/AMNIS.2004 |doi-access=free}} | ||
* {{cite book |last1=Jamin |first1=Jérôme |title=The Post-War Anglo-American Far Right: A Special Relationship of Hate |publisher=] UK |isbn=978-1-137-39621-1 |pages=84–103 |language=en |chapter=Cultural Marxism and the Radical Right |date=2014}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Jamin |first1=Jérôme |title=Cultural Marxism: A survey |journal=Religion Compass |year=2018 |volume=12 |issue=1–2 |pages=e12258 |doi=10.1111/REC3.12258}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Mirrlees |first1=Tanner |title=The Alt-right's Discourse on 'Cultural Marxism': A Political Instrument of Intersectional Hate |journal=Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice |year=2018 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=49–69 |url=https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5403 |language=en |issn=1715-0698}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Paternotte |first1=David |last2=Verloo |first2=Mieke |title=De-democratization and the Politics of Knowledge: Unpacking the Cultural Marxism Narrative |journal=Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society |date=2021 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=556–578 |doi=10.1093/sp/jxab025|doi-access=free}} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Richardson |first1=John E. |editor1-last=Copsey |editor1-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Richardson |editor2-first=John E. |title=Cultures of Post-War British Fascism |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-53937-7 |language=en |chapter='Cultural-Marxism' and the British National Party: A transnational discourse |date=2015}} | |||
* {{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Imogen |last2=Jones |first2=Callum |title=Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy |date=2021 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-003-10517-6 |chapter=Quillette, classical liberalism, and the international New Right}} | * {{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Imogen |last2=Jones |first2=Callum |title=Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy |date=2021 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-003-10517-6 |chapter=Quillette, classical liberalism, and the international New Right}} | ||
* {{cite book |last1=Woods |first1=Andrew |title=Critical Theory and the Humanities in the Age of the Alt-Right |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-18753-8 |pages=39–59 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-18753-8_3 |language=en |chapter=Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory |date=2019 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-18753-8_3}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Tuters |first1=M. |title=Cultural Marxism |journal=] |year=2018 |volume=2018 |issue=2 |pages=32–34 |hdl=11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |url=https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e |language=en}} | |||
{{2011 Norway attacks}} | |||
{{alt-right footer}} | {{alt-right footer}} | ||
{{antisemitism footer}} | {{antisemitism footer}} | ||
{{conspiracy theories}} | {{conspiracy theories}} | ||
{{2011 Norway attacks}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 00:55, 23 December 2024
Far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory "Cultural Marxism" redirects here. For the Marxist approach to social theory and cultural studies, see Marxist cultural analysis.
Cultural Marxism is a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory that misrepresents Western Marxism (especially the Frankfurt School) as being responsible for modern progressive movements, identity politics, and political correctness. The conspiracy theory posits that there is an ongoing and intentional academic and intellectual effort to subvert Western society via a planned culture war that undermines the supposed Christian values of traditionalist conservatism and seeks to replace them with culturally liberal values.
A contemporary revival of the Nazi propaganda term "Cultural Bolshevism", the contemporary version of the conspiracy theory originated in the United States during the 1990s. Originally found only on the far-right political fringe, the term began to enter mainstream discourse in the 2010s and is now found globally. The conspiracy theory of a Marxist culture war is promoted by right-wing politicians, fundamentalist religious leaders, political commentators in mainstream print and television media, and white supremacist terrorists, and has been described as "a foundational element of the alt-right worldview". Scholarly analysis of the conspiracy theory has concluded that it has no basis in fact.
Origins
European reactionaries, following their defeat in the culture wars of the 1960s against liberals and Marxists, split from the mainstream conservatism of the "Old Right", forming a loose intellectual grouping (the "New Right") that criticised the contemporaneous society and attempted to transform cultural norms and values. In the 21st century, The European New Right influenced the US alt-right to focus on nonviolent ways to delegitimize the liberal status quo. This included criticising the perceived decline of Western culture and the influence of pop culture, which they claimed was the result of a collusion between capitalism and what they called "Cultural Marxism".
Michael Minnicino and the LaRouche Movement
Michael Minnicino's 1992 essay New Dark Age: The Frankfurt School and 'Political Correctness' has been described as a starting point for the contemporary conspiracy theory in the United States. Minnicino's interest in the subject derived from his involvement in the LaRouche movement. Lyndon LaRouche had begun developing conspiracy theories regarding the Frankfurt School in 1974, when he alleged that Herbert Marcuse and Angela Davis were acting as part of COINTELPRO. Other features of the conspiracy theory had developed across the 1970s and 80s in the movement's magazine, EIR, according to the researcher Andrew Woods.
Minnicino's essay argued that late twentieth-century America had become a "New Dark Age" as a result of the abandonment of Judeo-Christian and Renaissance ideals, which he claimed had been replaced in modern art with a "tyranny of ugliness". He attributed this to an alleged plot to instill cultural pessimism in America, carried out in three stages by Georg Lukács, the Frankfurt School, and elite media figures and political campaigners.
Minnicino asserted there were two aspects of the Frankfurt School plan to destroy Western culture. Firstly, a cultural critique, by Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin, to use art and culture to promote alienation and replace Christianity with socialism. This included the development of opinion polling and advertising techniques to brainwash the populace and control political campaigning. Secondly, the plan supposedly included attacks on the traditional family structure by Herbert Marcuse and Erich Fromm to promote women's rights, sexual liberation, and polymorphous perversity to subvert patriarchal authority. Minnicino claimed the Frankfurt School was responsible for elements of the counterculture of the 1960s and a "psychedelic revolution", distributing hallucinogenic drugs to encourage sexual perversion and promiscuity.
After the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway by Anders Breivik, a follower of the conspiracy theory, Minnicino repudiated his own essay. Minnicino wrote, "I still like to think that some of my research was validly conducted and useful. However, I see very clearly that the whole enterprise—and especially the conclusions—was hopelessly deformed by self-censorship and the desire to in some way support Mr. LaRouche's crack-brained world-view."
Paul Weyrich and William Lind
Paul Weyrich and William Lind were prominent figures of cultural conservatism in the United States; Weyrich had co-founded right-wing groups including the Free Congress Foundation, which he led. Weyrich equated political correctness with Cultural Marxism in a speech to the Conservative Leadership Conference of the Civitas Institute in 1998. He argued that "we have lost the culture war" and that "a legitimate strategy for us to follow is to look at ways to separate ourselves from the institutions that have been captured by the ideology of Political Correctness, or by other enemies of our traditional culture."
For the Free Congress Foundation, Weyrich commissioned Lind, a paleoconservative activist, to write a history of Cultural Marxism, defined as "a brand of Western Marxism ... commonly known as 'multiculturalism' or, less formally, Political Correctness." In the 2000 speech The Origins of Political Correctness, Lind wrote, "If we look at it analytically, if we look at it historically, we quickly find out exactly what it is. Political correctness is cultural Marxism. It is Marxism translated from economic into cultural terms. It is an effort that goes back not to the 1960s and the Hippies and the peace movement, but back to World War I. If we compare the basic tenets of Political Correctness with classical Marxism, the parallels are very obvious."
Lind employed the conspiracy theory to argue that leftist and liberal ideologies were alien to the United States. He argued that Lukács and Antonio Gramsci had aimed to subvert Western culture because it was an obstacle to the Marxist goal of proletarian revolution. He alleged that the Frankfurt School under Max Horkheimer had hoped to destroy Western civilization and establish totalitarianism (even though some members had fled Nazi totalitarianism), using four main strategies. First, Lind said, Horkheimer's critical theory would undermine the authority of family and government while segregating society into opposing groups of victims and oppressors. Second, he said, concepts of the authoritarian personality and the F-scale measuring susceptibility to fascism, developed by Adorno, would be used to accuse Americans with right-wing views of having fascist principles. Third, he said, polymorphous perversity would undermine family structure by promoting free love and homosexuality. Fourth, he characterized Herbert Marcuse as saying that left victim-groups should be allowed to speak while groups on the right were silenced. Lind said that Marcuse considered a coalition of "Blacks, students, feminist women, and homosexuals" as a feasible vanguard of cultural revolution in the 1960s. Lind also wrote that Cultural Marxism was an example of fourth-generation warfare.
Pat Buchanan brought more attention among paleoconservatives to Weyrich and Lind's iteration of the conspiracy theory. Jérôme Jamin refers to Buchanan as the "intellectual momentum" of the conspiracy theory, and to Anders Breivik as the "violent impetus". Both of them relied on Lind, who edited a multi-authored work called "Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology" that Jamin calls the core text that "has been unanimously cited as 'the' reference since 2004."
Lind and the Free Congress Foundation produced the video Political Correctness: The Frankfurt School in 1999. It was further distributed by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a racist group, which added its own introduction. The film includes decontextualized clips of historian Martin Jay, who was not aware of the nature of the production at the time. Jay has since become a recognized expert on the conspiracy theory. Concerning right-wing exploitation of his statements, Jay wrote, "Those beans I allegedly spilled had been on the plate for a very long time," going on to confirm that the Frankfurt school were Marxists concerned with culture, and that Marcuse promulgated the idea of repressive tolerance. However, the conspiracy theory presents an "improverished cartoon version" of these ideas.
Jay wrote that Lind's documentary was effective Cultural Marxism propaganda because it "spawned a number of condensed, textual versions, which were reproduced on a number of radical, right-wing sites." Jay further writes:
These, in turn, led to a plethora of new videos, now available on YouTube, which feature an odd cast of pseudo-experts regurgitating exactly the same line. The message is numbingly simplistic: All the 'ills' of modern American culture, from feminism, affirmative action, sexual liberation, racial equality, multiculturalism and gay rights to the decay of traditional education, and even environmentalism, are ultimately attributable to the insidious intellectual influence of the members of the Institute for Social Research who came to America in the 1930s.
Lind's documentary also featured Lazlo Pasztor, a former member of the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party who collaborated with the Nazis, and later served five years in prison for crimes against humanity.
Others
David Solway sees a "master plan" in Marxist revolutionaries and Cultural Marxists advocating for or predicting the dissolution of marriage. The charge is that they have a "'master plan' for the overthrow of Western civilization from within, personified by those members of the Frankfurt School ".
Popularization
Rachel Busbridge, Benjamin Moffitt and Joshua Thorburn describe the conspiracy theory as being promoted by the far-right, but that it "has gained ground over the past quarter century" and conclude that "hrough the lens of the Cultural Marxist conspiracy, however, it is possible to discern a relationship of empowerment between mainstream and fringe, whereby certain talking points and tropes are able to be transmitted, taken up and adapted by 'mainstream' figures, thus giving credence and visibility to ideologies that would have previously been constrained to the margins."
Andrew Breitbart, founder of Breitbart News, authored a 2011 book Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World that represents one of the conspiracy theory's moves towards the mainstream. Breitbart's interpretation of the conspiracy is similar in most respects to that of Lind. Breitbart attributes the spread of the ideas of the Frankfurt School from universities to a wider audience to "trickledown intellectualism", and claims that Saul Alinsky introduced cultural Marxism to the masses in his 1971 handbook Rules for Radicals. Woods argues that Breitbart focuses on Alinsky in order to associate cultural Marxism with the modern Democratic Party, and Hillary Clinton. Breitbart claims that George Soros funds the alleged cultural Marxism project. Martin Jay wrote that Breitbart's book displayed "appalling ignorance" of the actual work of the Frankfurt School.
Breitbart News has published the idea that Theodor Adorno's atonal music was an attempt at inducing mental illness on a mass scale. Former Breitbart contributors Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, have promoted the conspiracy theory, especially the claim that Cultural Marxist activity is happening in universities.
In the late 2010s, Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson popularized the term, for example, by blaming "Cultural Marxism" for demanding the use of gender-neutral pronouns as a threat to free speech, thus moving the term into mainstream discourse. Critics state that Peterson misuses postmodernism as a stand-in term for the conspiracy without understanding its antisemitic implications, specifying that "Peterson isn't an ideological anti-Semite; there's every reason to believe that when he re-broadcasts fascist propaganda, he doesn't even hear the dog-whistles he's emitting".
Spencer Sunshine and journalist Ari Paul have criticized traditional media such as The New York Times, New York Magazine and The Washington Post for their coverage of the conspiracy theory, arguing that they have either not clarified the nature of the conspiracy theory or "allow it to live on their pages." An example is an article in The New York Times by David Brooks, who Paul and Sunshine argue "rebrands cultural Marxism as mere political correctness, giving the Nazi-inspired phrase legitimacy for the American right. It is dropped in or quoted in other stories—some of them lighthearted, like the fashion cues of the alt-right—without describing how fringe this notion is. It's akin to letting conspiracy theories about chem trails or vaccines get unearned space in mainstream press." Another is Andrew Sullivan, who went on "to denounce 'cultural Marxists' for inspiring social justice movements on campuses." Paul and Sunshine argue that failure to highlight the nature of the conspiracy theory "has bitter consequences. 'It is legitimizing the use of that framework, and therefore it's coded antisemitism.'"
Supporters of the conspiracy theory include paleoconservative political philosopher Paul Gottfried. Gottfried was at one time a student of Herbert Marcuse (with whom he disagreed) and edited the academic journal Telos. Under Gottfried's tenure, Telos became far-right in its outlook, writing favorably about Carl Schmitt and Alain de Benoist. Gottfried influenced Richard Spencer and has been called the "godfather" of the alt-right. He defended William Lind against accusations that "Cultural Marxism" has anti-semitic undertones. Gottfried identifies as reactionary and questions the value of political equality. Gottfried defines cultural Marxism as "a particular movement for change that combines some elements of Marxist socialism with a call for sexual and cultural revolution". However, he says that the term "cultural Marxism" is not ideal since the connection with Marxism is tenuous. Gottfried writes that the influence of the Frankfurt School lives on in modern left-wing politics mainly in the form of a tendency to conflate the right wing with fascism.
Aspects
The conspiracy theory states that an elite of Marxist theorists and Frankfurt School intellectuals are subverting Western society. None of the Frankfurt School's members were part of any kind of international conspiracy to destroy Western civilization, and Horkheimer strictly prohibited members of the Frankfurt school from engaging in political activism in the United States. According to Marc Tuters, "the analysis of Marxism proffered by this literature would certainly not stand up to scrutiny by any serious historian of the subject." Conspiracy theorists misrepresent the nature of Theodor Adorno's work on the Princeton Radio Project, wherein Adorno sought to understand the ability of mass media to influence the public, which he saw as a danger to be mitigated, rather than a plan to be implemented.
Conspiracy theorists position themselves as defending "Western civilization", which serves as a floating signifier often focusing on capitalism and freedom of speech. The conspiracy theory is an extreme assessment of political correctness, accusing the latter of being a project to destroy Christianity, nationalism, and the nuclear family. Scholars associated with the Frankfurt School sought to create a better society by warning against patriarchy and capitalist exploitation, goals that could seem threatening to others who have an interest in maintaining the status quo.
The conspiracy theory exaggerates the influence of the Frankfurt School; Stuart Jeffries, discussing it, noted their "negligible real-world impact". According to Joan Braune, Cultural Marxism in the sense referred to by the conspiracy theorists never existed, and does not correspond to any historical school of thought. She also states that Frankfurt School scholars are referred to as "Critical Theorists", not "Cultural Marxists". She points out that, contrary to the claims of the conspiracy theorists, postmodernism tends to be wary of or even hostile towards Marxism, including towards the grand narratives typically supported by Critical Theory.
Antisemitism
The author Matthew Rose wrote that arguments by the American neo-Nazi Francis Parker Yockey after World War II were an early example of the conspiracy theory.
William Lind on one occasion presented his theories at a Holocaust denial conference.
Spencer Sunshine, an associate fellow at the Political Research Associates, stated that "the focus on the Frankfurt School by the right serves to highlight its inherent Jewishness."
According to Samuel Moyn, "he wider discourse around cultural Marxism today resembles nothing so much as a version of the Jewish Bolshevism myth updated for a new age." Maxime Dafaure likewise states that Cultural Marxism is a contemporary update of antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as the Nazi concept of "Cultural Bolshevism", and is directly associated with the concept of "Jewish Bolshevism". According to philosopher Slavoj Žižek, the term Cultural Marxism "plays the same structural role as that of the 'Jewish plot' in anti-Semitism: it projects (or rather, transposes) the immanent antagonism of our socio-economic life onto an external cause: what the conservative alt-right deplores as the ethical disintegration of our lives (feminism, attacks on patriarchy, political correctness, etc.) must have an external cause—because it cannot, for them, emerge out of the antagonisms and tensions of our own societies." Dominic Green wrote a conservative critique of conservatives' complaints about Cultural Marxism in Spectator USA, stating: "For the Nazis, the Frankfurter School and its vaguely Jewish exponents fell under the rubric of Kulturbolshewismus, 'Cultural Bolshevism.'"
Andrew Woods in the essay "Cultural Marxism and the Cathedral: Two Alt-Right Perspectives on Critical Theory" (2019), acknowledges comparisons to Cultural Bolshevism, but argues against the idea the modern conspiracy theory was derived from Nazi propaganda. He writes instead that its antisemitism is "profoundly American". In Commune magazine, Woods detailed a genealogy of the conspiracy theory beginning with the LaRouche movement.
Kevin MacDonald has written several anti-semitic texts centering on the Frankfurt School. MacDonald criticized Breivik's manifesto for not being more hostile to Jews.
Circulation in the alt-right
Neo-Nazi and white supremacists promoted the conspiracy theory and help expand its reach. Websites such as the American Renaissance have run articles with titles like "Cultural Marxism in Action: Media Matters Engineers Cancellation of Vdare.com Conference". The Daily Stormer regularly runs stories about "Cultural Marxism" with titles such as "Jewish Cultural Marxism is Destroying Abercrombie & Fitch", "Hollywood Strikes Again: Cultural Marxism through the Medium of Big Box-Office Movies" and "The Left-Center-Right Political Spectrum of Immigration = Cultural Marxism".
Neo-nazis associated with Stormfront have strategically used the Frankfurt School as a euphemism to refer to Jewish people more generally, in venues where more forthright anti-semitism would be censored or rejected.
Timothy Matthews criticized the Frankfurt School from an explicitly Christian right perspective in the Catholic weekly newspaper The Wanderer. According to Matthews, the Frankfurt School, under the influence of Satan, seeks to destroy the traditional Christian family using critical theory and Marcuse's concept of polymorphous perversity, thereby encouraging homosexuality and breaking down the patriarchal family. Andrew Woods wrote that the plot Matthews describes does not resemble the Frankfurt School so much as the alleged aims of communists in The Naked Communist by W. Cleon Skousen. Nonetheless, Matthews' account was circulated credulously by right-wing and alt-right news media, as well as in far-right internet forums, such as Stormfront.
Following the 2011 Norway attacks, the conspiracy theory was taken up by a number of far-right outlets and forums, including alt-right websites such as AltRight Corporation, InfoWars and VDARE which have promoted the theory. The AltRight Corporation's website, altright.com, featured articles with titles such as "Ghostbusters and the Suicide of Cultural Marxism", "#3 — Sweden: The World Capital of Cultural Marxism" and "Beta Leftists, Cultural Marxism and Self-Entitlement". InfoWars ran numerous headlines such as "Is Cultural Marxism America's New Mainline Ideology?" VDARE ran similar articles with similar titles such as "Yes, Virginia (Dare) There Is A Cultural Marxism—And It's Taking Over Conservatism Inc." Richard B. Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute, has promoted the conspiracy theory. Spencer's master's thesis was on the topic of Theodor Adorno.
A combination of homophobia and anti-globalism within the alt-right has produced the concept of "globohomo", a variant of "Cultural Marxism" alleging that media and business elites seek to impose a homogeneous "uniculture" on the world, and to weaken populations by promoting feminism, sexual freedom, gender fluidity, liberalism, and immigration. "Globohomo" stands in for global neoliberalism, which is believed to be responsible for replacing a diversity of local cultures (especially white, Western culture) with generic consumerism. The concept was promoted by pick-up artist James C. Weidmann through his blog Chateau Heartiste.
Political violence
On July 22, 2011, Anders Breivik murdered 77 people in the 2011 Norway attacks. About 90 minutes before enacting the violence, Breivik e-mailed 1,003 people his manifesto 2083: A European Declaration of Independence and a copy of Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology. Cultural Marxism was the primary subject of Breivik's manifesto. Breivik wrote that the "sexually transmitted disease (STD) epidemic in Western Europe is a result of cultural Marxism", that "Cultural Marxism defines Muslims, feminist women, homosexuals, and some additional minority groups, as virtuous, and they view ethnic Christian European men as evil" and that the "European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg is a cultural-Marxist-controlled political entity."
A number of other far-right terrorists have espoused the conspiracy theory. Jack Renshaw, a neo-Nazi child sex offender convicted of plotting the assassination of Labour MP Rosie Cooper, promoted the conspiracy theory in a video for the British National Party. John T. Earnest, the perpetrator of the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting, was inspired by white nationalist ideology. In an online manifesto, Earnest stated that he believed "every Jew is responsible for the meticulously planned genocide of the European race" through the promotion of "cultural Marxism and communism."
Concerning the real-life political violence caused by the conspiracy theory, law professor Samuel Moyn wrote: "That 'cultural Marxism' is a crude slander, referring to something that does not exist, unfortunately does not mean actual people are not being set up to pay the price, as scapegoats, to appease a rising sense of anger and anxiety. And for that reason, 'cultural Marxism' is not only a sad diversion from framing legitimate grievances but also a dangerous lure in an increasingly unhinged moment."
Analysis
Sociologists Julia Lux and John David Jordan argue that the conspiracy theory can be broken down into its key elements: "misogynist anti-feminism, neo-eugenic science (broadly defined as various forms of genetic determinism), genetic and cultural white supremacy, McCarthyist anti-Leftism fixated on postmodernism, radical anti-intellectualism applied to the social sciences, and the idea that a purge is required to restore normality." They go on to say that all of these items are "supported, proselytised and academically buoyed by intellectuals, politicians, and media figures with extremely credible educational backgrounds."
In "Taking On Hate: One NGO's Strategies" (2009), the political scientist Heidi Beirich says the Cultural Marxism theory demonizes the cultural bêtes noires of conservatism such as feminists, LGBT social movements, secular humanists, multiculturalists, sex educators, environmentalists, immigrants and black nationalists.
Jamin writes on the flexibility of the conspiracy theory to serve the rhetorical purposes of different groups with diverse sets of enemies:
Next to the global dimension of the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, there is its innovative and original dimension, which lets its authors avoid racist discourses and pretend to be defenders of democracy. As such, Cultural Marxism is innovative in comparison with old styled theories of a similar nature, such as those involving Freemasons, Bavarian Illuminati, Jews or even Wall Street bankers. For Lind, Buchanan and Breivik, the threat does not come from the migrant or the Jew because he is a migrant or a Jew. For Lind, the threat comes from the Communist ideology, which is considered as a danger for freedom and democracy, and which is associated with different authoritarian political regimes (Russia, China, Cambodia, Cuba, etc.). For Buchanan, the threat comes from atheism, relativism and hard capitalism which, when combined, transform people and nations into an uncontrolled mass of alienated consumers. For Breivik, a self-indoctrinated lone-wolf, the danger comes from Islam, a religion seen as a totalitarian ideology which threatens liberal democracies from Western Europe as much as its Judeo-Christian heritage. In Lind, Buchanan and Breivik, overt racism is studiously avoided.
Literary scholar Aaron Hanlon says "the objectives of proponents of conspiratorial views about Cultural Marxism were (and are) not to give a current account of Critical Theory, but to advance a conservative version of US liberalism against the scapegoat of global conspiracy theory" and "In short, what Critical Theory provides to those who use 'critical theory' to signal a socialist threat to liberalism is not only a link to Marxist thought, but also a straw man against which to advance neoliberal politics."
Philosophy professor Matthew Sharpe on The Conversation noted that "The last four decades have seen a relative decline of Marxist thought in academia. Its influence has been superseded by 'post-structuralist' (or 'postmodernist') thinkers like Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Gilles Deleuze. Post-structuralism is primarily indebted to thinkers of the European 'conservative revolution' led by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Where Marxism is built on hopes for reason, revolution and social progress, post-structuralist thinkers roundly reject such optimistic 'grand narratives'. Post-structuralists are as preoccupied with culture as our conservative news columnists. But their analyses of identity and difference challenge the primacy Marxism affords to economics as much as they oppose liberal or conservative ideas."
By country
Australia
Shortly after the Norway attacks, mainstream right-wing politicians began espousing the conspiracy. In 2013, Cory Bernardi, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, wrote in his book The Conservative Revolution that "cultural Marxism has been one of the most corrosive influences on society over the last century." Five years later, Fraser Anning, former Australian Senator, initially sitting as a member of Pauline Hanson's One Nation and then Katter's Australian Party, declared during his maiden speech in 2018 that "Cultural Marxism is not a throwaway line but a literal truth" and spoke of the need for a "final solution to the immigration problem."
Brazil
In Brazil, the government of Jair Bolsonaro contained a number of administration members who promoted the conspiracy theory, including Eduardo Bolsonaro, the president's son who "enthusiastically described Steve Bannon as an opponent of Cultural Marxism." Jair Bolsonaro sought to expunge the influence of Paulo Freire from Brazilian universities. This had the opposite effect, driving sales of Freire's book Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Cuba
In 2010, former head of state Fidel Castro called attention to a version of the conspiracy theory by Daniel Estulin, which proposed that the Bilderberg Group sought to influence world events via the spread of rock and roll music. Estulin's work was based on Minnicino's 1992 essay which emphasized Adorno's involvement in the Radio Research Project. Martin Jay described Estulin's text as "risible" and explained that, although some in the Frankfurt School wrote about the potential for mass media to pacify labor movements, it was something they lamented rather than planned to implement. Castro invited Estulin to Cuba, where they issued a joint statement claiming Osama bin Laden was a CIA asset and that the United States was planning a nuclear war against Russia. In 2019, Jay wrote that Castro's interest in the conspiracy theory had no long-term consequences.
Hungary
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has invoked a cultural Marxism frame in justifying certain illiberal policies and authoritarian centralization of power. Orbán, who wrote a master's thesis on Antonio Gramsci, references Gramscian cultural hegemony as an impetus to contest left-aligned epistemic institutions, including universities and the media. In alignment with the cultural Marxism frame, Hungarian minister Bence Rétvári said that gender studies should be regarded as ideology rather than science. The Hungarian government withdrew state recognition of gender studies degree programs in 2018.
United Kingdom
During the Brexit debate in 2019, a number of Conservatives and Brexiteers were criticized for using the phrase "cultural Marxism" due to its conspiracy theory connotations.
Suella Braverman, the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), said in a pro-Brexit speech for the Bruges Group, a Eurosceptic think tank, that "e are engaging in many battles right now. As Conservatives, we are engaged in a battle against cultural Marxism, where banning things is becoming de rigueur, where freedom of speech is becoming a taboo, where our universities — quintessential institutions of liberalism — are being shrouded in censorship and a culture of no-platforming." Her usage of the conspiracy theory was condemned as hate speech by other MPs, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the anti-racist organization Hope Not Hate. After meeting with her later, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said that she is "not in any way antisemitic." Braverman was alerted to this connection by journalist Dawn Foster, but she defended using the term. Braverman denied that the term Cultural Marxism is an antisemitic trope, stating during a question and answer session "whether she stood by the term, given its far-right connections. She said: 'Yes, I do believe we are in a battle against cultural Marxism, as I said. We have culture evolving from the far left which has allowed the snuffing out of freedom of speech, freedom of thought.'" Braverman further added that she was "very aware of that ongoing creep of cultural Marxism, which has come from Jeremy Corbyn."
Nigel Farage has promoted the cultural Marxist conspiracy theory, for which he has been condemned by Jewish groups, such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews, as well as a number of Members of Parliament, who said he used it as a dog-whistle code for antisemitism. Farage said that the United Kingdom faced "cultural Marxism", a term described in its report by The Guardian as "originating in a conspiracy theory based on a supposed plot against national governments, which is closely linked to the far right and antisemitism." Farage's spokesman "condemned previous criticism of his language by Jewish groups and others as 'pathetic' and 'a manufactured story.'"
In The War Against the BBC (2020), Patrick Barwise and Peter York write how the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory has been pushed by some on the right as part of an alleged bias of the BBC. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown cites Dominic Cummings, Tim Montgomerie and the right-wing website Guido Fawkes as examples of "relentlessly about the institution's 'cultural Marxism' or left-wing bias. This now happens on a near-daily basis."
In November 2020, a letter signed by 28 Conservative MPs, published in The Telegraph, accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'". The use of this terminology in the letter was described by the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, Jewish Council for Racial Equality, anti-racist charity Hope Not Hate and the Campaign Against Antisemitism as antisemitic.
United States
Cultural Marxism discourse was found in several strands of U.S. right-wing politics post-2000, including the religious right and the Tea Party movement.
Shortly after the election of Donald Trump, Alex Ross wrote an article in The New Yorker titled, "The Frankfurt School Knew Trump was Coming". It argued that Trump represented the kind of authoritarian identified by Theodor Adorno's F-scale. This idea prompted academic conferences on the same theme at the New School for Social Research and the Leo Baeck Institute. Martin Jay linked election rhetoric of Trump supporters as "deplorables" to Adorno's authoritarian personality concept, saying it "counterproductively forecloses treating those it categorized as anything but objects of contempt." Jay encouraged empathy and dialogue to resolve political polarization.
In 2017, it was reported that advisor Rich Higgins was fired from the United States National Security Council for publishing the memorandum '"POTUS & Political Warfare" that alleged the existence of a left-wing conspiracy to destroy Donald Trump's presidency because "American public intellectuals of Cultural Marxism, foreign Islamicists, and globalist bankers, the news media, and politicians from the Republican and Democratic parties were attacking Trump, because he represents an existential threat to the cultural Marxist memes that dominate the prevailing cultural narrative in the US." Higgins also asserted that the Frankfurt School "sought to deconstruct everything in order to destroy it, giving rise to society-wide nihilism." The memo was read by Donald Trump Jr. who passed on a copy of it to his father.
Matt Shea, a Republican former member of the Washington House of Representatives has also promoted Higgins' memo.
In June 2023, Florida governor and then-candidate for President in the 2024 election Ron DeSantis defined "woke" as a "form of Cultural Marxism". Texas U.S. senator Ted Cruz used both terms in the title of his 2023 book, Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America.
South Korea
National Human Rights Commission of Korea chairperson Ahn Chang-ho stated "Many cultural Marxists declared 'Our fundamental enemy is Christianity' and promoted homosexuality as a means of bringing about a communist revolution.". During nomination hearing he said "I have heard that there are some neo-Marxists who suggest that homosexuality is a key means in a communist revolution." and " Marxists and fascists operate with impunity in society."
Online harassment
Gamergate was an online harassment campaign beginning in 2014, particularly targeting women, that had the purported aim of promoting ethics in video games journalism. Participants in Gamergate referred to their opposition as cultural Marxists, and cited free-speech grounds to justify harassing their targets. Noted harassment associated with the online movement included doxing, swatting, and threats of rape and death. The Southern Poverty Law Center described the Gamergate campaign as one in a number of examples of male supremacy, which it said views society as "a matriarchy propped up by 'cultural Marxism' meant to eradicate or subjugate men".
See also
- Blood libel
- Doctors' plot
- Great Replacement
- Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory
- Pizzagate conspiracy theory
- QAnon
- White genocide conspiracy theory
- Zionist Occupation Government conspiracy theory
Notes
- "Christian values" in this context primarily refers to the Conservative concept of family values.
- In its dominant iteration, the US-originating conspiracy holds that a small group of Marxist critical theorists have conspired to destroy Western civilisation by taking over key cultural institutions.
- Peterson uses a variety of terms somewhat interchangeably, among them "postmodernism", "neo-Marxism" and "postmodern neo-Marxism".
- This has been disputed by some critics, who have suggested that the Frankfurt School's theory of historical development gives tacit support to patriarchy and imperialism.Gordon, Peter Eli; Hammer, Espen; Honneth, Axel, eds. (2019). The Routledge companion to the Frankfurt school. New York, NY: Routledge. p. xx. ISBN 978-0-429-44337-4. OCLC 1044778556.
- The article accused the Frankfurt School of having eleven primary aims:
- The creation of racism offences
- Continual change to create confusion
- The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children
- The undermining of schools' and teachers' authority
- Huge immigration to destroy identity
- The promotion of excessive drinking
- Emptying of churches
- An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime
- Dependency on the state or state benefits
- Control and dumbing down of media
- Encouraging the breakdown of the family
References
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In 2015, Gerald Warner (the 'Tory intellectual' Scottish journalist) wrote an article for the American alt-right house journal Breitbart attacking the Frankfurt School of left-wing cultural theorists. His piece included this little gem: 'Theodor Adorno promoted degenerate atonal music to induce mental illness, including necrophilia, on a large scale.'
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- Jamin (2018). "When looking at the literature on Cultural Marxism as a piece of cultural studies, as a conspiracy described by Lind and its followers, and as arguments used by Buchanan, Breivik, and other actors within their own agendas, we see a common ground made of unquestionable facts in terms of who did what and where, and for how long at the Frankfurt School. Nowhere do we see divergence of opinion about who Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse really were, when they have met and in which universities. But this changes if we look at descriptions of what they wanted to do: conducting research or changing deeply the culture of the West? Were they working for political science or were they engaging with a hidden political agenda? Were they working for the academic community or obeying foreign secret services?"
- ^ Tuters, M. (2018). "Cultural Marxism". Krisis: Journal for Contemporary Philosophy. 2018 (2): 32–34. hdl:11245.1/7b72bcec-9ad2-4dc4-8395-35b4eeae0e9e.
The concept of Cultural Marxism seeks to introduce readers unfamiliar with – and presumably completely uninterested in – Western Marxist thought to its key thinkers, as well as some of their ideas, as part of an insidious story of secret operations of mind-control ...
- Tuters (2018), pp. 32–34. "The Cultural Marxist narrative attributes incredible influence to the power of the ideas of the Frankfurt School to the extent that it may even be read as a kind of 'perverse tribute' to the latter (Jay 2011). In one account, for example (Estulin 2005), Theodor Adorno is thought to have helped pioneer new and insidious techniques for mind control that are now used by the 'mainstream media' to promote its 'liberal agenda' – this as part of Adorno's work, upon first emigrating to the United States, with Paul Lazarsfeld on the famous Princeton Radio Research Project, which helped popularize the contagion theory of media effects with its study of Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds. In an ironical sense this literature can perhaps be understood as popularizing simplified or otherwise distorted versions of certain concepts initially developed by the Frankfurt School, as well as those of Western Marxism more generally."
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- ^ Jeffries, Stuart (August 18, 2021). "Why Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt School failed to change the world". New Statesman. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
- Rose, Matthew (2021). A World after Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right. Yale University Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-300-26308-4.
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The Cultural Marxism narrative has particularly telling ancestors, since it is a mere contemporary update of Nazi Germany's concept of "Cultural Bolshevism" used to foster anti-Soviet fears (not unlike the American anti-communist hysterias of the Red Scares). Maybe even more telling is its direct association with the like-minded "Jewish Bolshevism" concept, which professes the whimsical claim that a Jewish cabal is responsible for the creation and spread of communism, and more broadly for the "degeneracy" of traditional Western values, an infamous term which also surfaces in recent far-right arguments.
- Burgis, Ben; Hamilton, Conrad Bongard; McManus, Matthew; Trejo, Marion (2020). Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson. London, England: John Hunt Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-7890-4554-3.
- Mirrlees (2018). "A glut of content about cultural Marxism now circulates through the Internet and World Wide Web, and much of it stems from alt-right media sources—websites, magazines, and blogs. Anglin's The Daily Stormer publishes stories like 'Jewish Cultural Marxism is Destroying Abercrombie & Fitch' (Farben 2017) and 'Hollywood Strikes Again: Cultural Marxism through the Medium of Big Box-Office Movies' (Murray 2016) and 'The Left-Center-Right Political Spectrum of Immigration = Cultural Marxism' (Duchesne 2015)."
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Part of our mission is to ensure that institutional custodians of history and heritage, tasked with safeguarding and celebrating British values, are not coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the "woke agenda".
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Further reading
- Catlin, Jonathon (2020). "The Frankfurt School on Antisemitism, Authoritarianism, and Right-wing Radicalism: The Politics of Unreason: The Frankfurt School and the Origins of Modern Antisemitism, by Lars Rensmann, Albany, NY, SUNY Press, 2017, xv + 600 pp., $25.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-43846-594-4". European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology. 7 (2): 198–214. doi:10.1080/23254823.2020.1742018. S2CID 216306994.
- De Bruin, Robin (2021). "European union as a road to serfdom: The Alt-Right's inversion of narratives on European integration". Journal of Contemporary European Studies. 30: 52–66. doi:10.1080/14782804.2021.1960489. hdl:11245.1/76db2cfc-4262-4059-bea4-eb310bc689dd. S2CID 238810398.
- Grumke, Thomas (2004). "'Take this country back!': Die neue Rechte in den USA". Die Neue Rechte — eine Gefahr für die Demokratie? [The New Right—A Danger to Democracy?] (in German). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. pp. 175–185. ISBN 978-3-322-81016-8.
- Jamin, Jérôme (2013). "Anders Breivik et le 'marxisme culturel': Etats-Unis/Europe". Amnis (12). doi:10.4000/AMNIS.2004.
- Richards, Imogen; Jones, Callum (2021). "Quillette, classical liberalism, and the international New Right". Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-10517-6.
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