Backlash against wokeness in contemporary organizational fields: a critical discourse analysis of anti-woke discourses in relation to Flemish and Dutch academia

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on backlash against wokeness as a phenomenon that contributes to the denial of the ubiquity of racism in contemporary organizational fields. We conduct a critical discourse analysis of these anti-woke discourses that play out at the macro-level (politicians) and meso-level (university presidents) in the Netherlands and Flanders. We demonstrate how micro-level textual strategies divert attention from the pervasive nature of racism. This diversion occurs particularly through decontextualization and recontextualization, where woke discourses are removed from their original context and reinterpreted to align with the objectives of conservative political actors (politicians and academic leaders). We reveal how these actors manipulate the narrative around woke discourses to serve their personal objectives, thereby limiting the impact of these discourses on raising awareness about the pervasiveness of racism. Through this study, we provide a deeper understanding of the micro-level dynamics at play in anti-woke discourses.