This essay, on Musa al-Gharbi’s book We Have Never Been Woke, was my Observer column this week. It was published on 10 November 2024, under the headline “Cosplaying social justice is the new elitist way of elbowing out the working class”. When Musa al-Gharbi first arrived in New York in 2016, what he most noticed was the operation of a “racialized caste system” under which “disposable servants… will clean your house, watch your kids, walk your dogs, deliver prepared meals to you”. […]

Categories: Culture & Books, Justice & Liberties • Tags: black lives matter, catherine liu, class solidarity, democratic party, elite capture, inequality, musa al-gharbi, olufemi taiwo, social justice, symbolic capitalists, we have never been woke, wokeness