Cancel Culture

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As Cancel Culture (dt. " Abortion culture ") is a systematic boycott by persons or entities referred to, where abusive or discriminatory be accused statements or actions. Because of the serious implications it is supposed to have, it is thoroughly ambivalent and highly controversial.

Origin of the term and mode of operation

The term Cancel Culture comes from the Anglo-Saxon language area and has meanwhile found its way into German-speaking debates. It goes back to the practice of canceling (from English to cancel ), i.e. the withdrawal of support for a public person or organization. Cancellation is mainly done in social media and aims to withdraw media attention. This is usually accompanied by accusations that can damage the reputation of the person concerned. Such incidents have occasionally led to layoffs and the discontinuation of films and TV series. Cancel culture is a political term coined by the opponents of this tendency. It stands in the tradition of the arguments about political correctness . Finally, the term was also used in connection with the revision of racist cultural heritage , such as monuments of colonialists or the practice of blackfacing .

Examples

In North America

In 2018, Canadian presenter Jian Ghomeshi, who had previously been accused of sexual assault by over 20 women, published an essay on #MeToo in the New York Review of Books . This caused criticism of its editor-in-chief Ian Buruma , who gave up his post shortly afterwards.

David Shor worked for a company that is supposed to support the US Democrats in the 2020 election campaign through analysis . After the death of George Floyd, he summarized the study of a black Havard professor on Twitter. According to this, violent protests in 1968 helped Richard Nixon to win the election, while peaceful demonstrations favored the Democrats. Numerous activists on Twitter rated this tweet as advice on non-violence to the BLM movement and denied Shor, as a white, the right to do so. As a result, he was fired by his employer. Yascha Mounk concludes from such incidents that cancel culture is a "phenomenon that no longer just wants to fight false opinions - but also those who are supposedly wrong."

In Germany

The Leipzig annual exhibition threatened to be canceled in 2019 after the invitation of the controversial painter Axel Krause caused a scandal. Krause had posted statements critical of migration in the past and called the AfD a "welcome corrective in ailing political business". It was only after the artist had been unloaded that the exhibition opened with a delay.

Incidents outside of the internet have also been linked to cancel culture . For example, when AfD founder Bernd Lucke returned to his job as a professor of macroeconomics at the University of Hamburg after losing his seat for the Liberal-Conservative Reformer party in the EU Parliament and was unable to give his first two lectures due to vehement protests . In the same month, left-wing demonstrators prevented a reading by Thomas de Maizière at the Göttingen literary autumn . Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier declared: "The blockade in Göttingen by the anti-fascist left is an outrageous disregard for law and person that we cannot accept!" The Göttingen CDU member of the Bundestag Fritz Güntzler said: "I am shocked by the extent of the action that was an attack on our democracy." Federal President Steinmeier took a position on both cases by calling for a respectful form of dispute.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) published a statement by comedian Dieter Nuhr in 2020 as part of an online campaign on the occasion of her 100th birthday . This met with fierce criticism, as Nuhr had previously been accused of scientifically questionable relativizations of man-made climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic . The subsequent deletion of Nuhr's contribution saw it as part of a cancel culture . The DFG apologized to Nuhr after further criticism in the media. In view of the sometimes "aggressive Twitter discussion", she had not come to a clear assessment. The DFG put the article online again, emphasizing the "freedom of thought based on the Enlightenment" and expressing concern about the polarization of the culture of debate .

At the same time Lisa Eckhart was unloaded from the Harbor Literature Festival in Hamburg. Eckhart thinks it is a "partly malicious misunderstanding". In the context of the debates, a comment on BR Kultur Bühne by Knut Cordsen, one by Dirk Peitz in Die Zeit , and two Deutschlandfunk Kultur interviews followed. One with Claus Leggewie and another with Stefanie Sargnagel . In addition, a Tagesspiegel comment by Malte Lehming , as well as Götz Aly's column in the Berliner Zeitung , a Zapp comment by Sebastian Friedrich , a WELTplus article by Deniz Yücel , an article by Michael Hanfeld in the FAZ and Margarete Stokowski in her Spiegel - Column on the debate.

reception

As recently as August 2020, the term appears to be controversial in Germany. Friday writes that "the feuilletons of the republic are worried about the term cancel culture".

criticism

The Swedish journalist Karin Pettersson sees an “intolerance problem” among the left . It is true that it is not a restriction, but a strengthening of the rights of members of minorities when attacks on them meet with massive criticism. But there are dangerous tendencies with Cancel Cuture if provocative claims are not objectively refuted, but only a matter of discrediting their authors.

The author Helen Lewis also sees the cancel culture as a means by capitalist corporations to avoid real debates about equality by means of unintrusive “progressive gestures”. This would preserve and stabilize existing discriminatory structures.

In July 2020, a letter entitled "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate" was published by Harper's Magazine in the United States . “Among the more than 150 signatories are celebrities like the 'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling , the writer Margaret Atwood , the linguist and activist Noam Chomsky , the British-Indian author Salman Rushdie and the German author Daniel Kehlmann . They all speak out against a 'Cancel Culture' in the USA. ”One of the signatories is Steven Pinker . He gave several reasons for his support in Welt am Sonntag . On the one hand, the so-called cancel culture is ruining the lives of innocent people. On the other hand, a younger generation of intellectuals, scientists and artists is intimidated and no longer dares to express a different opinion. In addition, the trend to slander or fire people with different beliefs cripples the ability to solve problems collectively. George Soros said in an interview: "Some speak of“ Cancel Culture ”. I think it is a temporary phenomenon. I think it is also being exaggerated. Political correctness at universities is also grossly excessive. As an advocate of an open society, I believe Political correctness for politically incorrect. We should never forget that diversity of opinion is essential for open societies. "

The lawyer and journalist Milosz Matuschek points out that two centuries ago Alexis de Tocqueville identified a tyrannical element in democratic republics. Since heterodox thinking in the conformist mainstream can be punished by the extinction of bourgeois existence, it retreats into an intellectual dark web , where the topic of cultural warfare is still being discussed.

defense

On July 9, 2020, Hannes Soltau pointed out in the Tagesspiegel that due to the power differences in society, minorities can only make themselves heard through mass appearances, as prominent representatives of the majority also have individually. If this threatens their privileges, they should consider that this is a passing correction of the existing injustice.

Songwriter Billy Bragg interprets the Orwell quote from Animal Farm's foreword : "If freedom means anything, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear" as meaning that there is no defense of freedom, it is a request for permission and is critical of the open letter. Many who put their names under the letter are long-standing greats in the cultural industry and are used to their views being consumed only with awe and respect. In response to this development, a generation had grown up that gave accountability priority over absolute freedom of speech. Now social media has burst the soap bubble, and celebrities have had to painfully learn that anyone with a Twitter account today can question their opinion.

Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik says it only shows the infatuation of certain sections of the intellectual elite, a group of established influencers who struggle with the fact that they are losing control of how their work is received and conclude that the main problem is that freedom of expression is being attacked by a mob from a particular political camp. This solipsism about a supposed “cancel culture” is itself proof that more democratization and less awe of those who look at a changing world and only see the changes that affect them negatively are needed. The social media, on the other hand, represented the means by which racist incidents and police violence against minorities can be made known and only then spread. As a pandemic and global anti-racism movement force us to think deeply about how our societies perpetuate an inequality that threatens the lives of those on the shorter end of the legal system who still do not have the platforms or accesses to shape debates. It is quite natural that they come together on the Internet in order to be active here together.

Pankaj Mishra sees that through BLM and CC the "reassessment of things from the perspective of the long-time losers of history" is being forced. The "insidious" Harper's Letter lamented "what is commonly referred to as" cancel culture "" and that in the midst of massive protests against racism. “Shouting out loud that“ freedom of expression ”is in danger has become a means of standing out as the guardian of“ classical liberalism ”and giving oneself moral and intellectual splendor. The problem with this rich, powerful, but deeply insecure minority is that freedom of expression has never been greater for most people on this earth. ” Viet Thanh Nguyen refused to sign the Harper's Letter because“ The refreshing as well as terrifying strength of Social media is about allowing and encouraging voices and opinions that are not liberal. It's terrifying because really disgusting ideas and personalities can flourish; refreshing, because there the will to tell the truth to power is very strong. ”This is borne by a young and very committed generation who“ are still standing in the way of considerable forces of a discredited status quo ”.

Conceptual criticism

Critics of the term note that “cancel culture” is wrongly accused mostly of left-wing or identity-political initiatives. Conservative critics of the cancel culture, such as the US President Donald Trump , pursued corresponding strategies of abandoning the dialogue and denouncing individual persons, organizations, media and publications themselves sometimes much more excessively. Trump tried to push political opponents, critical journalists and even athletes out of their jobs through partially unjustified allegations.

Some commentators observe that very different incidents and debates have recently been linked to cancel culture. The use of the term is thus characterized by a certain vagueness. Contextless accusations of cancel culture could functionalize the word as a “battle term” that promotes social polarization.

Samira El Ouassil sees Cancel Culture as an ideological battle term that is predominantly used by right-wing populists and right-wing extremists to delegitimize legitimate protests.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Where Did Cancel Culture Come From? In: Dictionary.com. Retrieved July 26, 2020 (American English).
  2. ↑ Cancel culture against artists and works: Simply erase debates - derStandard.at. Retrieved July 26, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Tobias Rapp, Philipp Oehmke: "Cancel Culture" in the USA: The Great Ditch - DER SPIEGEL - Culture. Retrieved July 26, 2020 .
  4. ↑ It's going to be painful. Retrieved July 26, 2020 .
  5. ^ Ian Buruma: New York Review of Books editor-in-chief goes to #Metoo post. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved August 3, 2020 .
  6. ^ Cara Buckley: New York Review of Books Editor Is Out Amid Uproar Over #MeToo Essay . In: The New York Times . September 19, 2018, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed August 3, 2020]).
  7. ↑ Yascha Mounk on August 17, 2020 on ZEIT ONLINE: Collective censorship [1]
  8. ^ Max Tholl: How the culture industry boycotts discriminating artists. Der Tagesspiegel , August 2, 2019, accessed on July 17, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Lucke expulsion: This “Antifa” campaign was completely wrong , RND , October 16, 2019.
  10. ↑ a b From left-wing demonstrators. Reading of de Maizière prevented at literary autumn. In: FAZ. October 22, 2019, accessed August 12, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Steinmeier stands behind Lucke and de Maizière. In: The world. October 25, 2019, accessed August 12, 2020 .
  12. ↑ German Research Foundation deletes Dieter Nuhr's contribution after criticism - an own goal? Retrieved August 2, 2020 .
  13. ↑ German Research Foundation: Statement DFG - Dieter Nuhr. In: DFG2020 - Decide for knowledge. Retrieved August 4, 2020 .
  14. ^ Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: Contribution by Dieter Nuhr online again. In: DFG2020 - Decide for knowledge. Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Lisa Eckhart sees a "partly malicious misunderstanding" [2] . In: The World of August 12, 2020, as of: 11:19 am.
  16. ↑ Black block beats black humor About Lisa Eckhart from the Hamburg Harbor Front Festival , by Knut Cordsen August 6, 2020
  17. ↑ How the Cancel Culture came to Hamburg from Dirk Peitz
  18. ↑ -culture-hier-wird-ja-auf.1013.de.html? Dram: article_id = 482017 Claus Leggewie on "Cancel Culture" "Here is rioted on suspicion" , Deutschlandfunk Kultur interview with Gabi Wuttke, August 8th 2020
  19. ↑ Stefanie Sargnagel on the Causa Lisa Eckhart: Reproduction of prejudices , Deutschlandfunk Kultur August 11, 2020
  20. ↑ Lisa Eckhart, Dieter Nuhr, Nurhan Soykan How the Guardians Restrict Freedom of Speech via the Saying , by Malte Lehming , Der Tagesspiegel August 8, 2020
  21. ↑ Column: Stupid German witch hunt on Lisa Eckhart , by Götz Aly, Berliner Zeitung August 10, 2020
  22. ^ The constructed debate about cancel culture
  23. ↑ Cancel Culture An open society has to endure ambiguity by Deniz Yücel
  24. ↑ Cabaret artist Lisa Eckhart Threat from Inside , by Michael Hanfeld , FAZ August 10, 2020
  25. ↑ Dispute about Lisa Eckhart Cancel Culture for Beginners , by Margarete Stokowski , Der Spiegel August 11, 2020
  26. ↑ Friday 34/2020 [3]
  27. ↑ Karin Pettersson: Die Wut der Kulturkrieger [4] in ipg-journal on July 29, 2020
  28. ^ Story by Helen Lewis: How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture . In: The Atlantic . ISSN  1072-7825 ( theatlantic.com [accessed July 18, 2020]).
  29. ↑ Open letter: [5]
  30. ↑ Hannes Soltau on July 9, 2020 in Tagesspiegel: [6]
  31. ↑ a b Billy Bragg: Who is silencing whom here? Friday , July 10th, 2020, accessed on July 17th, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Alison Flood: Rowling, Rushdie and Atwood warn against 'intolerance' in open letter. The Guardian, July 8, 2020, accessed July 17, 2020 .
  33. ↑ Nesrine Malik: Narcissistic Offense. Friday , July 13th, 2020, accessed on July 17th, 2020 .
  34. ↑ Deutschlandfunk: Harvard Professor Pinker sees the ideals of the Enlightenment at risk. July 19, 2020, accessed July 20, 2020 . [7]
  35. ↑ "Merkel is doing her best, but she encounters deep-seated cultural resistance" . In: World of August 12, 2020, as of 7:41 [8]
  36. ↑ Milosz Matuschek: https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/cancel-culture-donald-trump-jordan-peterson-hillary-clinton-intellectual-dark-web-ach-ihr-linken-gebt- but-finally-freedom of thought-li.100277 Oh, you leftists! Finally give freedom of thought 23.8.2020
  37. ↑ Hannes Soltau on July 9, 2020 in Tagesspiegel: [9]
  38. ↑ Nesrine Malik: Narcissistic Offense. Friday , July 13th, 2020, accessed on July 25th, 2020 .
  39. ↑ Conversation by Pankaj Mishra and Viet Thanh Nguyen, August 17, 2020 [10]
  40. ↑ Mehdi Hasan: Donald Trump is the king of cancel culture. Retrieved on August 4, 2020 .
  41. ↑ Catherine Rampell: Trump decries 'cancel culture' - but no one embraces it more. Retrieved on August 4, 2020 .
  42. ↑ “Cancel culture” does not exist. Accessed August 5, 2020 (English).
  43. ↑ Hannah Pilarczyk: Debate about Cancel Culture - Many trenches, many struggles. In: Spiegel online. Retrieved August 5, 2020 .
  44. ↑ Samira El Ouassil: Let's cancel the idea of ​​“Cancel Culture”! In: Übermedien. August 13, 2020, accessed September 1, 2020 .