Have we passed the hump of ‘peak woke’? I’m not exactly sure that we’ve reached the end of the beginning, let alone the beginning of the end. A single Trump does not a summer of liberty make. The Long March through the Institutions may have copped a bloody nose in the USA, but it still rules the roost in too much of the West.
Still, some are getting a bit excited at what they swear is a tiny gleam of blue showing through the louring clouds of wokeism. If they’re right, then surprisingly perhaps, it’s the because of the kids.
Researchers at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) examined the popularity of 20 prominent words and phrases associated with social justice or ‘woke’ concepts over the last 20 years.
They tracked the frequency of Google searches in Australia for phrases such as ‘decolonisation’, ‘body positivity’, ‘white privilege’, ‘invasion day’ and ‘pronouns’, discovering an explosion in popularity for these terms since 2012.
According to this metric, interest in key phrases of wokeism, also including cultural appropriation, non-binary and critical race theory peaked in March 2023. Since then, according to Brianna McKee, the IPA’s national manager of generation liberty, interest in these terms has dropped ever since. It should be noted, though, that the data shows that we’re barely back to 2021 levels of woke.
The IPA's research clearly shows Australians have had enough of this pernicious and divisive agenda, as well as identity politics that are pushed on them in schools, universities, at work and at sporting events.
The cultural correction underway reflects a broader realisation that society functions best when it shares a belief in objective truth, shared values, and moral norms.
How has the data been reflected in the real world? Perhaps significantly, just seven months after the apparent ‘peak woke’, Australia held what was then described as the world’s first ‘Referendum on Woke’, Anthony Albanese’s Voice to Parliament. During the campaign, which was dominated by the usual woke coalition of leftist politicians, witless celebrities and craven corporations, prominent ‘No’ campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price encouraged Aussies to reject the referendum as a way to stand against ‘woke insidious cancel culture’.
As you no doubt recall, the referendum was resoundingly defeated.
Contrary the banshee wailing of the left ever since, the referendum was not defeated by ‘old white males’. Electorates where at least two of the top three non-English languages are not European returned a ‘No’ vote and most were a strong ‘No’ (greater than 55 per cent). Electorates with a high prevalence of Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism among the top religions also overwhelmingly voted ‘No’. Electorates with the highest percentage of Aboriginal voters were among the 10 highest ‘No’ voters. Even in remote Aboriginal communities, only 30 per cent voted ‘Yes’.
A big surprise of the referendum was just how soft the youth vote was. While a slim majority of 18–24 year olds voted ‘Yes’, that still fell far short of the numbers needed to pass a referendum.
When it comes to wokeism in general, the youngest cohort of voters are moving away from the left.
The IPA’s research was backed up by a survey which showed, perhaps surprisingly, that those aged 18–24 were increasingly rejecting woke ideas, in contrast to the age group directly above them […]
For example, 47 per cent of those age 25–34 said their race, gender, sex or ethnic background was an important or very important factor in their voting habits.
However, only 38 per cent of those aged 18–24 agreed.
This is a remarkable turnaround, given how thoroughly this cohort has been indoctrinated by the left-dominated education system, from early childcare through to university.
‘Younger Australians are returning to a values system of individuality and egalitarianism’, according to the IPA’s Ms McKee.
‘Gen Z have been berated more than past generations to see the world through the prism of race and gender, where every act is a potential trap for cancel culture police. It’s no wonder younger Australians are turning away from this divisive agenda and its constant conflict,’ she added.
‘These findings are a lesson for our leaders that Australians understand full well that there is more that unites us and divides us.
‘At a time when social cohesion is collapsing in Australia, there are welcome signs the divisive agenda of the political class is starting to be rejected.’
The survey also found that 89 per cent of Australians explicitly support the principle of equality before the law, rather than making distinctions between groups to make up for alleged historical injustices.
But for all her youthful enthusiasm, McKee sounds a note of caution. As she rightly points out, the hardest nuts to crack will be the big corporates that are riddled with the HR Karens who are the footsoldiers of the DEI onslaught.
Still, as Woolworths found out when it refused to stock Australia Day merch, ‘Go Woke, Go Broke’ is much more than a handy catchphrase.
