A critical realist understanding of cancel culture in academic settings
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23310988 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Pilgrim (0000-0001-8140-8734, University of Southampton, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Critical Realism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1476-7430 • E-ISSN: 1572-5138 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14767430.2026.2699595 |
| OpenAlex | W7171446690 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Cancel culture has been linked, in recent times in Western democracies, to the suppression of freedom of expression in both academic and non-academic settings. I offer critical realism as a resource to trace its conditions of possibility, focusing on the former. After the necessity of academic freedom to facilitate critical realist inquiry is noted, the emergent features of cancel culture are described and accounted for. I discuss the historical continuities in punishing freedom of expression and their authoritarian, religious and political versions of power. Identity politics and their attendant cancel culture keep up this tradition, but some new features, especially related to changes in technology and neoliberal individualism, have enabled recent forms of silencing and punishment.
Critical realism (philosophy of perception) · Qualitative research · Realism · Reflexivity · Critical Realism in Sociology · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Social and Cultural Dynamics
Identity Politics
Hate Crimes in Cyberspace
Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory
On Happiness and Human Potentials
Brexitland
Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics
This is hate, not debate
What is a woman
Revisiting Cancel Culture
Cancel culture in a developing country
The Reality of Social Construction
The Reflexive Imperative in Late Modernity
Against the Grain
The Euro-Pagan Scene
The Promise of Happiness
Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing
The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education
Being Human
The Expulsion of Academic Teaching Staff from German Universities, 1933–45
Our man at the top
Between “Cancel Culture” and Campus Culture
Mapping the Margins
Unraveling a “Cancel Culture” Dynamic
Cancel Culture
The Political Psychology of Cancel Culture
Conceptualizing epistemic violence
What is Critical Realism? And Why Should You Care
Hungary
| Highly cited | No |
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