Are progressives canceling themselves out?
鈥淐ancel culture鈥� 鈥� the mass shaming and nullification of politicians, celebrities and companies (think Al Franken, Ellen DeGeneres, J.K. Rowling) after they鈥檝e said or done something considered morally beyond the bounds 鈥� is all the buzz right now.
The term is new, but, argues TC psychologist Peter Coleman in , the practice dates back to the 鈥渟haming and shunning鈥� used to promote social cohesion during Puritan times, and has parallels in what the psychologist Michele Gelfand calls 鈥渢ight cultures鈥� (examples: Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore) with 鈥渧ery clear and strict rules, norms and taboos for social behavior.鈥�
Such tactics continue to be common in many conservative religious communities in the United States 鈥� but 鈥渨hy,鈥� asks Coleman, 鈥渢his current ascendance of cancellation from the left?鈥�
[Read Coleman鈥檚 in The Hill.]
The answer, he suggests, is that 鈥渢oday, progressives are extremely frustrated and enraged鈥� over Donald Trump鈥檚 election and the fact that he has 鈥渞emained, for the most part, untouchable鈥� in the wake of impeachment by the House of Representatives and investigations by Robert Mueller and the Southern District of New York that led to it. 鈥淭rump has done everything in his power 鈥� and even beyond it 鈥� to poke his finger in the eye of progressives,鈥� Coleman asserts, 鈥渂y every environmental regulation, the federal court benches with right-wing activist judges, sometimes seeming to of white supremacy, racial equality efforts, disenfranchising minority voters and every multilateral treaty that he can.鈥�
To its credit, Coleman says, the left has done many positive things to oppose that agenda 鈥� but progressives have also turned against one another, 鈥渁nd in doing so, they got tight, meaning, more conforming, rigid and constraining.鈥� He cites Gelfand鈥檚 research (in a new book titled ) showing that the societies that are most likely to become 鈥渢ight鈥� are those that have been 鈥渓iving under prolonged states of threat and attack.鈥� The American left has felt under attack since before Trump鈥檚 presidency, but as he has fed their discontent, the left 鈥渃losed ranks and began to institute clearer standards, purity tests and ever harsher sanctioning of its members,鈥� Coleman asserts.
Citing Gelfand鈥檚 contention that societies can counteract the negative effects of tightening by diversifying the mix of voices in 鈥渢he public square,鈥� Coleman suggests that the left can bolster itself and fight cancel culture by encouraging 鈥渄iversity of thought, conflict and dissonance within the tent of progressives.鈥� Doing so runs the risk of creating a disabling 鈥溾�� (as some critics of this week's Democratic National Convention have asserted) 鈥� but for now, Coleman concludes, 鈥渄ebate within the progressive tent is a healthy and necessary one.鈥�