“Facing woke obscurantism”: chronicle of a turbulent publication
A selection of talks and broadcasts dedicated to the book “Facing Woke Obscurantism”.
Observers Collective
June 18, 2025
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A selection of talks and broadcasts dedicated to the book “Facing Woke Obscurantism”.
Why do intellectuals, despite being trained in critical thinking, persist in serious ideological errors? In his latest essay, Samuel Fitoussi shows how an educated elite can impose erroneous dogmas on society as a whole without facing the consequences. A review by Emmanuelle Hénin.
Claudio Rubiliani presents his spring selection of personalities with selective commitment and ideological conformity.
The journalists who wrote "La Meute" denounced LFI's ideological shift toward indigenism and anti-Semitism, a cult of leadership, and hypocrisy regarding issues of sexual violence. A strategy of political conquest based on social division and militant radicalism. A report by Ivan Burel.
Marie-Jo Bonnet denounces the censorship she faces within feminist and LGBT activist circles for expressing critical positions on marriage, medically assisted procreation for lesbians, and gender transition, which she considers to be normative responses to social and identity-based malaise. The new progressive norms are becoming instruments of exclusion, censorship, and the falsification of history, under the guise of defending minorities.
In Thinking About What Happens to Us with Hannah Arendt, Bérénice Levet demonstrates the philosopher's relevance to understanding contemporary crises. Arendt contrasts modern utopia with the need to recognize our human limitations and preserve a shared world rooted in tradition and moral conscience. Reviewed by Emmanuelle Hénin.
Jacques Robert denounces the ideological instrumentalization of science and protests against those who want to remove the human and social sciences (HSS) from the CNRS. Just as much as the so-called "hard" sciences, the HSS make a major contribution to knowledge of the world.
The collective work Critique de la raison universitaire, edited by Arnaud Bernadet, explores how certain identity-based, managerial, and activist ideologies undermine the foundations of science, reason, and academic freedom within Western universities, particularly in Canada and France. Through contributions from various academics, the book denounces the erosion of intellectual pluralism caused by censorship, EDI policies, the indigenization of knowledge, and the transformation of law into an instrument of activism, calling for a rigorous defense of academic autonomy as a requirement of truth.
The AFS Congress poster reveals a militant utopianism in a section of contemporary sociology. Vincent Tournier denounces the use of social sciences as an ideological tool in the service of wokeism.
A profound reversal of values and benchmarks is currently affecting the intellectual, educational, and social spheres. Identity ideologies are distorting historical struggles for equality, emptying them of their meaning. It is urgent to reestablish critical thinking, armed with knowledge and rigor, to stand up against this charade that is blurring the transmission of reality.
The book "Facing Woke Obscurantism," commissioned by the Presses Universitaires de France from three researchers and 22 co-authors, was suddenly canceled a month before its publication, officially due to a context deemed unfavorable. This decision, perceived as a form of ideological censorship, sparked numerous reactions, media support for the authors, and interest from other publishers willing to publish the book.
Stand up for Science: A generous mobilization in favor of threatened American researchers… that we had not seen at work in favor of those who were ostracized in the past for crimes of opinion. Ideological prejudices and political correctness harm science! Beware of militant actions that undermine scientific rigor…
At a time when the French-language writer Boualem Sansal was dying in the jails of Algiers, the star political journalist of RTL declared on air on February 25, 2025 that France "made hundreds of Oradour-sur-Glane" in Algeria, and "that the Nazis behaved as we did in Algeria."
Jacques Robert warns against the excesses of wokeism and Trumpism, two extremes threatening science, and calls for vigilance against all forms of ideologization of knowledge.
We are the advocates of the dead, not because we hear their voices, but because we refuse to subject knowledge to seductive illusions. Science cannot be a field of "exceptional" experiments; it is, above all, a space of intellectual demand.
In the world before, literature was the way to know the lives of others, to imagine one's own, and to test one's virtues, one's body, one's fantasies, one's hopes and one's ambitions. The teachers of morality and virtue were neither civil servants nor paid activists, but thinkers and artists grappling with the human question. This library is still available. Mr. Minister Delegate, hold on!
Fabrice Balanche, a researcher at Lyon 2 University, was prevented from giving a lecture by masked activists claiming to be pro-Palestinian. The University Ethics Observatory responded to this climate of intimidation in a statement demanding sanctions and strong commitment from university and government authorities.
A profound reversal of values and benchmarks is currently affecting the intellectual, educational, and social spheres. Identity ideologies are distorting historical struggles for equality, emptying them of their meaning. It is urgent to reestablish critical thinking, armed with knowledge and rigor, to stand up against this charade that is blurring the transmission of reality.
Bergeaud-Blackler responds to the arguments put forward by Karim Souanef and Julien Talpin (Mediapart), who claim that the cancellation of his lecture at the University of Lille was based on scientific and ethical reasons, not political ones. They present the case from a political angle while claiming the opposite, omitting certain elements and biasing their analysis.
It is from Scotland that we receive news that a child is suffering from "species dysphoria" and identifies with a wolf. Oncologist Jacques Robert expands on this theme.
There was the first medalist for the refugee team, Cameroonian boxer Cindy Ngamba; the selfie of the South and North Korean table tennis players, united on the podium; and the Australian Rachel Gunn, who distinguished herself with a break dance performance that earned her no points but rather a flood of jeers. It is very likely that she consciously provoked this fiasco to put herself forward in the many media outlets that reported on it.
David Lappartient and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra supported the decision to ban athlete Sounkamba Sylla from wearing a veil at the Olympic Games, in accordance with the principles of secularism and neutrality, despite criticism from Amnesty International, insisting on the universality of human rights and republican equality.
There is a lot of talk these days about "academic freedom", but it is mostly to say stupid things, which a little common sense and knowledge of the issue should be enough to dispel.
The period of Le Mars sees a proliferation of job advertisements for recruitment in higher education establishments of which the INSPE are now part in complete autonomy. The word "autonomy" is undoubtedly inappropriate when talking about the civil service, as some believe themselves to be freed by the performative magic of the word from any accountability to the public that finances them. Through our unprecedented mobilization, we have managed to force the administration to back down!
“We are losing science,” warns Weiss, who sees this politicization as an existential threat. “When remains are buried or destroyed, when museums censor their exhibits, there is nothing left to study. Unlike other disciplines, once anthropological data is lost, it cannot be recreated.”
Elizabeth Weiss nevertheless remains attached to the idea of an anthropology anchored in science and the exploration of the past. But her testimony, opposing scientific rigor to identity pretensions, suggests an uncertain future for a discipline in search of meaning.
Despite these few reservations, the fact remains that Transmania is a powerful and useful book. Buy it, read it… and, if possible, have it signed (wearing a helmet is recommended).
Mrs. Réjane Sénac holds a doctorate from the IEP in Paris in political science, specializing in "political thought". She holds a Master 2 in law and a Master
Céline Maçon and Caroline Eliacheff discuss the topic of transidentification in adolescents. They question the diagnosis of gender dysphoria and propose the term pubertal sexual anxiety.
The defense of transgender people excites the masses, touches individuals and interests companies. What "oppressed minority" can boast such a hold on society?
On December 15, 2022, the Café Laïque in Brussels was attacked by a pack of trans activists. Forced entry into the premises, breaking of furniture, throwing of excrement… another one of those violent cancels that wokeism has made us accustomed to.
Christian Godin, philosopher, reacts to the latest article in Le Monde, the content of which is deliberately in favor of militant transactivism.
Gender, the cultural construction of biological sex, has become central to social and political studies, significantly influencing the ideology of late capitalism.
October 7 revealed the failure of a Western left, divided by its support for Hamas and disconnected from its historical values such as anti-racism, secularism and the fight for equality. This fracture is symptomatic of the wokeism and Islamo-leftism that are eating away at the political debate.
Mapping of the Muslim Brotherhood galaxy in France [UOIF, satellite associations, allies and supporters] (Version 2.12) initially published on the Lieux Communs website in February 2020 and frequently updated since.
The hijab women wanted the moon: to be able to play football with the hijab on their heads. Supported by several disoriented associations, the hijab women did not win their case. Alone alongside the French Football Federation (FFF), the International Women's Rights League (LDIF) stood up against religious fundamentalism and won the game. We interviewed its president Annie Sugier.
The ambition of this text is to put forward some elements of analysis for the purpose of understanding the Islamist phenomenon. This requires getting rid of a certain number of preconceived ideas...
In his book "Wokism Doesn't Exist," Alain Policar defends a woke ideology that, under the guise of fighting discrimination, seeks the deconstruction of Western civilization. A review by Emmanuelle Hénin.
Claudio Rubiliani presents his spring selection of personalities with selective commitment and ideological conformity.
In Thinking About What Happens to Us with Hannah Arendt, Bérénice Levet demonstrates the philosopher's relevance to understanding contemporary crises. Arendt contrasts modern utopia with the need to recognize our human limitations and preserve a shared world rooted in tradition and moral conscience. Reviewed by Emmanuelle Hénin.
The AFS Congress poster reveals a militant utopianism in a section of contemporary sociology. Vincent Tournier denounces the use of social sciences as an ideological tool in the service of wokeism.
In "The Hippocratic Sermon," Caroline Éliacheff and Céline Masson denounce the ideological excesses of transaffirmative medicine, particularly among minors, practices that run counter to traditional medical ethics and are sources of serious physical and psychological harm. Drawing on concrete cases, historical analyses, and the Cass report, they call for rigorous remedicalization based on psychology, clinical prudence, and child protection. A review by Emmanuelle Hénin.
The National Library of France is organizing a major exhibition on the Apocalypse, exploring its original meaning as "revelation" rather than the end of the world. The event, structured in three parts, offers an immersion into John's text, an analysis of the Apocalypse in art, and a contemporary reflection on the post-catastrophe, sparking controversy over an underlying ideology.
A satirical text by Claudio Rubiliani that provocatively ranks ten political figures and institutions, denouncing their hypocrisy and their offbeat commitment in the name of progressivism.
A comic strip supported by the Ministry of Higher Education explains how to identify a reliable scientific study. However, the portrayal of the charlatan as an old white scientist sparks debate about stereotypes and the message conveyed. Finally, the comic strip raises a broader question: why does science education seem to be neglected in favor of other educational priorities?
The concept of "deconstruction" was born from the works of Derrida and, according to his kind followers, "it has become, in the minds of reactionaries of all stripes, the portmanteau word designating everything they hate in thought, when it seeks to emancipate rather than to order."
Islamophobia has a clear political use that has been consecrated by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. But beyond that, what does the term really mean? And is what it is supposed to designate – a deep hostility towards Muslims that has spread in French society – supported by facts?
Woke ideology has long since penetrated the daily life of the business world and public administration. There are major and unavoidable phenomena that everyone thinks about. And there are these little everyday things, against which we don't know what to do, and which nibble away at our space of freedom every day. What are some examples? Where does it come from? What can we do?
The European Research Council (ERC) budget for the seven-year Horizon Europe programme amounts to €16 billion, dedicated to EU member states and associated nations, under the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FPRI). Is France autonomous in its higher education policy? No, because it conforms to European policies inspired by the United Nations aimed at achieving externally set objectives. Over the past 15 years, research and higher education in France have been silently transformed, partly influenced by the Anglo-Saxon liberal models established by Brussels.
There is no longer any need to recall the permeability of entire sections of academic research to theories themselves stemming from French Theory and from deconstructivism at all costs. Initially confined to the human and social sciences, this groundswell is now affecting the hard sciences since perched articles such as "Queer identity and theory intersections in mathematics education: a theoretical literature review" or "A quantum physics explanation for polyamory, BDSM, and queer people" are now commonplace (1, 2).
In the USA, this trend and in particular the emergence of Critical Race Theory is now affecting medical sciences and it is with a mixture of amusement and dismay that we see the blossoming, in the major international conferences usually held in North America, of lunar works now aiming to denounce the endemic and patriarchal WASP systemic racism in the care of patients suffering from cancer.
The claim to contribute to the social progress of inclusive writing (IE) is based on false premises, linked to a partial interpretation distorting the reality of the attested grammatical functioning of the French language. Inclusive writing is a militant reform of the language built on the denunciation of imaginary injustices deriving from symbolic interpretations that do not correspond to any strictly linguistic reality. It intends to inscribe various gender identities or to "make women visible", political marketing that has nothing in common with the description of the nominal classes of French and constitutes a political claim based on beliefs and not on empirically verified knowledge. Its supporters, even among linguists, prescribe works and references that go against the methods, data and knowledge accepted in language sciences.
To quote Susan Neiman: "On the other hand, woke thinking that advocates a tribal vision of culture is not far from that of the Nazis who insisted that German music be played exclusively by Aryans, nor from that of Samuel Huntington defending what he called "Western culture" against the threats of destruction coming from other civilizations. To censor cultural appropriation is to sabotage the power of culture."
Discover the excerpts from Stéphane Louryan's book, Autopsy of the University.
Exclusive excerpt from Sabine Prokhoris' book, "Who's Afraid of Roman Polanski?" If there is one thing that Roman Polanski had to deal with, in several forms, the fatal experience, it is the destructive power of falsification erected as a norm.
Wokism was born on American campuses. It has spread to England and the European continent. Will its cradle become its tomb? Here are some exclusive excerpts from Sylvie Perez's book, "Ending Wokism."
Samuel Fitoussi's powerful work is worth a look. Here are some excerpts exclusively loaned to the Observatory that will definitely make you want to read more!
This is how multiculturalism has slipped into identitarian communitarianism, and how it is turning into totalitarianism before our eyes. Savage censorship is imposed by micro-collectives that only authorize themselves, in contempt of the law, while all-out politicization transforms activists into legislators and judges, in the name of "everything is political" dear to fascist militias, Stalinist apparatchiks and their leftist heirs. And, as in any totalitarian atmosphere, fear reigns supreme, on American campuses as well as in the offices of French university presidents: fear of losing one's job, fear of losing face, fear above all of finding oneself in the wrong camp or - worse - of finding oneself alone.
Jean-Claude Michéa points out to me that the murder of the Rambouillet police officer was not presented by the media as a femicide. That is true. Neither in this case, nor in any other similar one, has a policewoman's murder ever been described as a femicide. What should we conclude from this? Thanks to Monique Wittig, we learned a long time ago that "lesbians are not women"! Thanks to our journalists, we now know that female police officers, even heterosexual ones, are not either.
[by Renée Fregosi, excerpted with her permission from Penser Salman Rushdie, Coordinated by Daniel Salvatore Schiffer, Éditions de l'Aube Released November 10, 2022] The Enemy
No birth without consent!
Every individual has the right to control his or her body and life. Yet we impose the violence of birth on our children.
Consent at birth aims to respect the fundamental principle of self-determination by asking for the child's agreement before coming into the world.
It is not about delaying birth indefinitely, but about opening a dialogue between parents and their future child, taking into account their needs and aspirations.
Consent at Birth: A Utopia? No, It's a Necessity!
For inclusive football
Inclusiveness in football teams is essential to promote diversity, combat discrimination and boost performance.
By mixing genders, origins and orientations, teams can set an example, definitively turn their backs on masculinism, encourage innovation and create a caring environment for all...not to mention matches that are all the more exciting to follow.
Let us demand that, through concrete actions, teams celebrate a more inclusive, egalitarian, empowering and inspiring football for all!
Humor is offensive, let's ban it!
Humor is incompatible with Truth, it is a form of blasphemy (Jorge de Burgos)
Humor is deeply reactionary.
The cynical buffoon ignores the offenses he provokes, he hurts and perpetuates systemic violence.
It is time to realize that humor is the expression of unconscious aggression that must be banished.
Just as we stopped spitting in the street, it's high time we stopped making jokes. Let's ban it.
Our right to hair restoration.
Androgenetic alopecia, being bald, is a profound handicap both in terms of self-esteem and discrimination, even stigmatization. Therefore an attack on human rights.
Let us claim our right to psychosocial support, to hair restoration treatments, particularly by implants.
While campaigning with absolute intransigence for total abolition here, we must guard against any attempt at hasty judgment on non-Western societies which, for their part, have perhaps found in certain forms of servitude a civilizational balance that it is not up to us to deconstruct. The essential thing is to abolish, again and again, in France only.
A satirical text by Claudio Rubiliani that provocatively ranks ten political figures and institutions, denouncing their hypocrisy and their offbeat commitment in the name of progressivism.
A remnant of a monarchical universe with nauseating sexist and patriarchal overtones, a chessboard condenses all inequalities and all discriminations.
At Columbia, the president, Nemat Shafik, known as Minouche, had to call the police on campus to dislodge pro-Palestinian students from their camps and from university buildings where they had no business, Hamilton Hall in particular. About a hundred of them had been arrested: this somewhat disconcerted them, having been raised in the absence of contradiction and unable to accept being accused of harassing those they believe to be responsible for or approving of the war in the Middle East and who have only the "fault" of being Jewish.
Best-of June 2024 from Woke-Machine, haven of all deconstructions…
Best-of May 2024 from Woke-Machine, haven of all deconstructions…
At this conference, I would like to talk about a fully successful personal transition. For about 50 years, I knew that I was not in the right body…
A management science teacher at the University of Montpellier 3, Bénédicte Gendron, is setting up a Master 2 whose program is worthy of the columns of Gorafi and has quickly made the rounds of online comedians.
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