The term 'Snowflakes' refers to the generation centred around the year 2000 to the present and is characterised by having less psychological resilience than previous generations. They are more emotionally vulnerable and take offence with ideas that challenge their own world view. Snowflakes have generally been raised by over-protective parents that give their children a sense of their own uniqueness and entitlement. When they feel emotionally challenged with language, actions or confronting ideas, in tertiary settings, for example, they often appeal for help, often through social media or appeal to campus authorities to shame or shut down the opposing views.
Academic climate: in crisis
Many higher education campuses thoughout the the US and other western countries have promoted social justice consciousness-raising or "wokeness". This ideological bias can be evidenced by the prevalence of "safe spaces, " trigger warnings," "bias reporting hotlines," and the "no platforming" of speakers. Such terms and actions as these have found their way into feminist and gender theory and into mainstream college and general university culture. This situation reinforces the vulnerabilities of the snowflake generation and gives legitimacy to a self-righteous and bigoted notion of social justice ideals. The effect of these trends is the stifling of free speech and developing a climate for a no-contest for ideas. Instead of promoting fee speech and open debate many universities and colleges have become close minded and self-censoring.
Social Justice
Social justice principles have promoted diversity and inclusion in most Western societies. Since the 1960s the social justice movement, particularly in America, promoted civil rights for people of all races. Social justice ideals have been important in promoting tolerance and improving the lives of the disabled, women, racial, religious, gender and ethnic groups within western societies.
Overtime time, however, "social justice warriors" have become intolerant to other voices in society. Rectenwald contends rather than encouraging diversity and inclusion social justice ideologies have become increasingly authoritarian and anti-intellectual. Public universities and colleges have for centuries been the melting pot for openness, critical thought, creativity, innovation and the fostering of academic rigour using scientific methodology. In contrast, so called "justice warriors" are often blinded by their own self-righteousness (see previous book review) and intolerance, for example, they would not use demeaning and derogative terms used to highlight racial difference but have no compunction about using bigoted terms such as "toxic masculinity" or 'white privilege' to shame and silence others.
Social justice as an ideology
The transformation of social justice into a 'fundamentalist' ideology by the progressive left draws upon Critical Theory (see earlier book review), liberal philosophy and postmodern theory and has led to a paradox of tolerance where pure tolerance is now impossible. Rectenwald contends that some sentiments in society are so intolerant that they become "intolerable". This social justice ideology draws from linguistic constructivism, rather than language representing reality it instead, constitutes a kind of social reality. This theoretical perspective takes the view that rather than describing a physical act it is itself a material agent. This orientation promotes terms such as "discursive violence" and "hate speech" not as a description of distasteful language but rather the social justice believer equates opinion with violence itself.
Dogma and the new religion
Linguistic and social constructivism is a type of philosophical and social idealism that enforces moral absolutism, which demands that all citizens should be of the one mind - a religious fundamentalism . Rectenwald believes ..."Once beliefs are unconstrained by the objective world and people can believe anything they like with impunity, the possibility for assuming a pretence of infallibility becomes almost irresistible, especially when the requisite power is available to support such idealism. In fact, given its willy-nilly determination of truth and reality on the basis of beliefs alone, philosophical and social idealism necessarily becomes dogmatic, authoritarian, anti-rational, and effectively religious" (see also Is postmodernism a religion). This is at odds with the Christian notion that all individuals are equal, responsible, and should be free to make their own choices; principles promoted by Martin Luther King and others during the civil-rights movement.
The Book:
Rectenwald, M. (2018). Springtime for snowflakes: Social justice and its postmodern parentage. Nashville: New English Review Press.
See also:
'Deplorable professor' sues NYU
Stephen Hicks: falsification of Marxism and the development of Postmodernism
Dr Alan Kirby on Post-postmodernism
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