Liz Truss claims Foucault was the founding father of Woke

Liz Truss claims Foucault was the founding father of Woke

In a speech made on 17^th December 2020 then Equalities Minister Liz Truss launched an early Tory Culture War on equalities.

It didn’t of course actually say much specific except that the Tories planned to end unconscious bias training in the Civil Service.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/fight-for-fairness

One entertaining passage referred to the late French philosopher Michel Foucault who died in 1984.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Foucault

In 2020 Truss was yet to discover Woke and Wokery. However in a speech to the hard right Heritage Foundation in Washington on 22^nd April 2024 to promote her Ten Days book, she claimed Foucault was the founding father of Woke. She argued that it is ‘another bad neo-marxist idea developed from Foucault and all those crazy postmodernists in the 1960s’ (Guardian).

Its not clear how much Truss has read of Foucault or postmodernist thinkers (not the same thing) but as with most things her understanding appears to be very limited

Truss on Foucault in 2020

“While we were taught about racism and sexism, there was too little time spent making sure everyone could read and write.

“These ideas have their roots in postmodernist philosophy – pioneered by Foucault – that puts societal power structures and labels ahead of individuals and their endeavours.

“In this school of thought, there is no space for evidence, as there is no objective view – truth and morality are all relative.

“Rather than promote policies that would have been a game-changer for the disenfranchised like better education and business opportunities, there was a preference for symbolic gestures.”