In a new book, Eric Kaufmann examines the rise of left-liberal extremism and discusses how to check this dominant hybrid ideology.

“The Third Awokening” revolves around the left-liberal anti-racism taboo of the mid-1960s. Like the big bang, this was a cosmic event; its logic has been progressively expanding, defining our social universe. It has introduced a zone of unbounded identitarian sacredness around race — a form of social kryptonite which irradiated anyone standing in its way. This powerful magic was borrowed by the feminist and later LGBTQ+ movements, weaponized by the revolutionary left and stretched to new frontiers of microscopic and confected emotional grievance. Along the way, it has eroded freedom, truth and excellence while vandalizing cherished national identities and undermining social cohesion. Until the taboo is reformed into a proportionate norm like any other, cultural socialism will remain a dominant force in polite society.