Butler and Gessen for AltLiberalArts: “Shameless Hatred” Behind Attacks on Gender, Academia
Alt New College sponsored an online discussion between philosopher Judith Butler (left) and writer Masha Gessen (right) on “The Authoritarian Assault on Gender Studies.” Photos courtesy of Wikimedia.
AltLiberalArts is a new online institute actively supporting academic freedom through free courses and lectures that was set up in the wake of the conservative takeover of New College of Florida, driven by the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis. It is a collective effort of students who remain at New College, alumni, students who have transferred to Hampshire College, Pen America, and OSUN.
Butler said Russia’s opposition to “gender ideology” is partially driven by opposition to what is perceived as an onslaught of “Western ideology” in the region. She said this discomfort can be located in the threat of Ukraine being absorbed into the EU, manifested by the current war waged by Russia. Gessen associated the attacks with Russian resentments born out of the economic chaos of the last years of President Boris Yeltsin and the fall of communism.
Butler posited that attacks spearheaded in the US by DeSantis, Trump, and other conservative figures against gender studies, critical race theory, and academic freedom could be associated with a “certain idea of masculinity that knows no bounds, that has no restrictions, that does what it wants, that hates as it wishes.” Gessen replied that such political moves act as a signal to people who feel disempowered, providing an “invitation to perform aggression, to perform hatred, to engage in your worst impulses.”
Post Date: 09-20-2023