The French Theory: Who laid the radical foundations of the Woke movement?

In the United States and Canada, some universities have faced criticism for implementing a range of DEI policies that critics say restrict open debate and promote a Marxist ideological orthodoxy.

When it comes to leftist ideologies, it was France that influenced the United States—not the other way around. During the 1960s and 1970s, American university campuses echoed with the names of French philosophers and intellectuals, cited by professors, students, the media, and politicians alike.

Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Derrida. Louis Althousser, Jacques Lacan and Pierre Bourdieu, among others, were thinkers of the cultural left during that era. They were embraced by the American elite and played a significant role in shaping the rise of "political correctness.", says French philosopher Fabien Bizet.

In the United States, this collection of philosophical, literary, social, and postmodern ideas promoted by these thinkers is known as French Theory. Its spread in the U.S. owes much to the magazine Semiotext(e), founded in 1974, at Columbia University.

Despite their differences, these counterculture thinkers were united by the belief that the era of modernity was over and that the foundational structures of the West—capitalism, instrumental reason, republican humanism, parliamentary democracy, and European history and culture—needed to be radically challenged.

What these scholars criticized their predecessors for was being agents and collaborators of a system dominated by the State and the bourgeoisie.

French Theory, a deconstruction of Western values

The French-Algerian philosopher Jacques Derrida spent many years teaching at American universities. He initially served as a visiting professor at institutions like Johns Hopkins University, NYU, UC Berkeley, and Yale. In 1987, he joined the faculty at the University of California, where he had a significant impact on the literature and philosophy departments.

In 1972, Derrida introduced the concept of phallocentrism, a philosophical term that refers to the dominance of the phallus and logos in Western thought and society as a whole.

The term was used to critique how Western thought privileged the masculine in the production of knowledge and language. However, in U.S. universities, it has often been misapplied in gender studies and feminist theory, evolving into a radical stance within a new wave of feminism that is hostile to opposing views and resistant to dialogue.

Similarly, Derrida’s concept was employed as a philosophical tool to examine the role of the European man, who, according to French Theory, uses reason to position himself at the center of all historical processes.

In this context, neologisms like phallogocentrism were adopted in American universities as a pretext for advancing leftist ideologies, while denouncing European dominance over global populations, the oppression of women, and the marginalization of minorities. Some scholars went as far as to reject the very concept of Nature, viewing it as inherently fascist.

The roots of cultural Marxism on American campuses

For their part, communist philosopher Louis Althusser and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu focused on reinterpreting Marxist thought with the aim of challenging the foundations of religion and republican education.

Althusser reinterpreted Marxism through a scientific and structuralist lens, distancing himself from Marx’s original ideological framework.

In his essay "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses," the French philosopher argued that institutions such as schools, churches, and the media shape individuals' beliefs, thereby maintaining the power of the ruling class.

Althusser's ideas were introduced in the U.S. by intellectuals such as Terry Eagleton and Fredric Jameson.

American universities likewise adopted his structuralist approach and his concept of "ideological state apparatuses," integrating them into the study of the social sciences.

For his part, Pierre Bourdieu developed the concept of relational materialism, an approach that blends elements of Marxism with structuralism and critical sociology.

According to the French sociologist, individuals’ behaviors and perceptions are shaped by their social environment, giving rise to ingrained habits that influence their actions. Bourdieu also examined how various social fields—such as education, politics, and art—function according to their own rules and power dynamics.

The French sociologist also aimed to reveal the power dynamics within educational institutions and how elites are reproduced in prestigious universities.

Bourdieu’s influence remains strong in American universities, where his concepts like cultural capital and habitus continue to be widely studied at institutions such as Harvard, Columbia University, and UC Berkeley.

Michel Foucault, a critique of power systems

Michel Foucault, for his part, examined institutions such as psychiatry, the prison system, and systems of discipline and punishment, exploring how power shapes the construction of sexual identity.

Foucault visited UC Berkeley several times between 1981 and 1983, delivering lectures on power and biopolitics.

Inspired by Nietzsche, the French philosopher employed the concept of genealogy to investigate the origins of power structures.

Similarly, his concept of biopolitics examined how the state regulates citizens' lives through education and health policies, exercising social control over individuals.

Not so marginal thinkers

These scholars aimed to deconstruct Western values and challenge all forms of dominant thinking inherited from the classical era.

To achieve their goal, it was essential for them to present themselves as marginalized. However, all of them taught at some of the most prestigious universities in France and the USA, firmly placing them within the intellectual and political elite of their era.

The ideas of French Theory formed the foundation for gender studies, queer theory, and race criticism on American campuses.

Taken to the extreme, these ideologies have led to a form of subjectivity devoid of common sense, resulting in the cancellation of prominent university professors and intellectuals like Jordan Peterson, Brett Weinstein, and journalist Bari Weiss, among many others.

Similarly, these ideologies have permeated the political and business spheres in the USA, fueling the rise of controversial DEI policies promoted by the struggling Democratic Party.

According to philosopher Fabien Bizet, "the alleged marginalization boasted by the members of the French Theory allowed them to invent complicated concepts and incomprehensible to the general public."

The deliberate effort to create complexity using a ‘scientific’ vocabulary—one that often lacks concrete meaning—opened the door to the ideological chaos that now engulfs American campuses.

According to French Theory, the “true sages” needed to possess a “language of their own” that would enable them to “recreate reality.” To them, common sense was considered something only fools relied upon.