The Intellectual Dark Web: An Analysis from the Left

“Strangely enough, for all its notoriety, the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ has few of the characteristics of a unified movement oriented around concrete goals.”

Introduction

Post-modern leftism has enjoyed waves of popularity and discontent since it was formalized in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s in the work of Michel Foucault, Julia Kristeva, and others. Perhaps the first wave of criticism emerged in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in the writings of figures such as Allan Bloom, Camille Paglia (when she could actually avoid ad hominem attacks on Foucault’s sexuality etc) and so on. This attack on leftist post-modernism has since been regarded as part and parcel of the so called “culture wars,” which characterized the Reagan period, a time when conservative thinkers used their political clout to attempt and ameliorate some of the gains made by liberals during the 1960’s and 70’s.

While the antipathy towards post-modernism never entirely disappeared, it was largely superseded in the following two decades by debates about the “end of history,” the role of American power in the world, and the furious anger generated by the September 11th attacks and the subsequent War on Terror. The great ideological conflict was between different visions of what a modern internationalist project should be. Liberals argued for the expansion of human rights to all and often pushed for greater commitments to foreign aid and economic and social rights. Neoliberals also professed adherence to human rights but were keen to restrict them to those necessary to ensure optimal market conditions. And finally, neoconservatives were both more skeptical of an internationally-driven human rights project and far more willing to deploy American and Western power to advance national objectives. The extent to which they did support rights was usually tied to some sense that promoting human rights would ultimately work to the benefit of Western states.

Then with the 2008 financial crisis and the gradual pushback against neoliberalism and internationalism gaining steam, something strange happened. New criticisms of post-modernism emerged. We are currently living in the midst of perhaps the most pronounced pushback against post-modernism since its inception. Figures on the political right, such as Jordan Peterson (whom I have discussed elsewhere), Stephen Hicks, Christina Hoff Sommers and others, have enjoyed skyrocketing popularity for criticizing so called “post-modern neo-Marxism” and its various offshoots. Perhaps unexpectedly, they have been joined by a growing chorus of figures on the far-left, who also regard post-modernism as a dangerous and unwelcome feature of the modern era. This includes critics such as Slavoj Zizek, Alain Badiou, and Seyla Benhabib. These voices join an older chorus of left wing—mostly Marxist—critics who long damned post-modernism as little more than the so called “cultural logic” of late capitalism. I have already discussed the strengths and weaknesses of their various critiques at some length elsewhere. In this piece, I would like to explore a somewhat different issue. Why is it that new attacks on post-modern leftism emerged in this time period? And is there any common denominator to the various critiques leveled by figures on the left and figures on the right?  This can help us develop a better understanding of not just post-modernism and its critics, but the epoch in which we live.