What Woke Really Means

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 188 What is "Woke"? Even though it's a term that has come to us through slang and without a stable meaning as it evolved, the term "Woke" is increasingly coming to mean something quite specific and precise. For several years now, we have associated it with the radical Leftism of our day, sometimes being so precise as to say that it means having adopted (or "woke up to") a critical constructivist worldview. What does that mean, though? At bottom, Woke is a worldview rooted in entitlement and alienation that gets located for the individual in class conflict. By absorbing his own sense of alienation and "superseding" himself for a group identity, a man becomes "Woke." Along with that comes a preference for subjugated or marginalized knowledges and ways of knowing, as the lingo goes. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay breaks down "Woke" and all that it means in this deeper way. Join him to gain the insight needed to understand this important term correctly. Latest from New Discourses Press! The Queering of the American Child: https://queeringbook.com/ Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames © 2026 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Woke