Jun 9, 2026 · 47 min · 13 segments
"Woke" has become one of the most contested words in contemporary culture, deployed as a badge of honour by some, a term of abuse by others. But what does it actually mean, and does it constitute a…
Nick SpencerHostNo entities detected.
Some people don't define it at all, but you go straight in there early on and you call it a cultural revolution that seeks equity according to group identity by authoritarian means.
Well, as you know, the word has been subject to so many different definitions by various different people.
It's been through all sorts of odd revolutions and evolutions over a long period of, of time, and a lot of the argument around woke tends to come down to people saying, "Do you even know what it means?" Or, "Your definition isn't identical to my definition," and, and people are arguing at cross purposes, so I just wanted to find a way to encapsulate the main aspects of what we call the woke movement.
As you know, there's a part of the book where I outline in full what that would entail, and it's a big, long spiel, and it's, it's deliberately absurd.
But by trying to encapsulate it in one sentence, the idea of a cultural revolution that seeks equity according to group identity through authoritarian means-
I, I like to think that encapsulates key points, equity rather than equality, so the idea that we have equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity, making everyone completely level.
But also group identity being the key driving factor and the key lens through which the woke interpret the world.
But most importantly is those last few words, by authoritarian means, because I contend that wokeness is an essentially authoritarian movement.
Yes, yes, that really comes across very strongly in the book about this is not a difference between left and right.
This is a difference between authoritarian and libertarian or authoritarian and liberal approaches.
Some people don't define it at all, but you go straight in there early on and you call it a cultural revolution that seeks equity according to group identity by authoritarian means.
Well, as you know, the word has been subject to so many different definitions by various different people.
It's been through all sorts of odd revolutions and evolutions over a long period of, of time, and a lot of the argument around woke tends to come down to people saying, "Do you even know what it means?" Or, "Your definition isn't identical to my definition," and, and people are arguing at cross purposes, so I just wanted to find a way to encapsulate the main aspects of what we call the woke movement.
As you know, there's a part of the book where I outline in full what that would entail, and it's a big, long spiel, and it's, it's deliberately absurd.
But by trying to encapsulate it in one sentence, the idea of a cultural revolution that seeks equity according to group identity through authoritarian means-
I, I like to think that encapsulates key points, equity rather than equality, so the idea that we have equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity, making everyone completely level.
But also group identity being the key driving factor and the key lens through which the woke interpret the world.
But most importantly is those last few words, by authoritarian means, because I contend that wokeness is an essentially authoritarian movement.
Yes, yes, that really comes across very strongly in the book about this is not a difference between left and right.
This is a difference between authoritarian and libertarian or authoritarian and liberal approaches.
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