The rise of ‘woke’ identity politics in the Anglophone West is driven by deep shifts in our political economy, institutional architecture and core values. While most of today’s discussions about identity politics tend to focus on its illiberal implications for domestic politics, in a context of growing international authoritarianism, the geopolitical consequences must not be underestimated.
Many of the shifts giving rise to wokeness began in the 1970s. As the political economy of the West ‘globalised’, and as the postwar settlement was upended, a new elite class emerged – what Barbara and John Ehrenreich termed the ‘professional-managerial class’ (PMC). In this new globalised era, jobs were offshored, mainly to East Asia, and economies increasingly moved focus from manufacturing to services. At the same time, mass immigration changed the demographic make-up and the cultural norms of settled communities. In short, social cohesion and nation states were increasingly superseded by new forms of ‘globalism’ and new elites emerged to manage the transitions.
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