Cynical Theories author Helen Pluckrose tells The Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast that identity politics will damage societal progress
Helen Pluckrose infuriated academic circles by publishing deliberately absurd papers which were nevertheless unwittingly praised by scholars steeped in a social justice worldview.
She believes that the "woke" perspective she mocked in academia has spread to corporations, politics, and everyday interactions and represents "the worst of our nature".
Cynical Theories writer Ms Pluckrose told the Planet Normal podcast with columnists Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, which you can listen to easily on the audio player below, that the ideology of identity politics will damage societal progress by inflaming tribalism between genders, sexualities, and races.
A "belief in individual responsibility" and "sense of pride" among minority groups will lead to a backlash against being branded as victims, she has argued.
Ms Pluckrose believes that impatience with the excess of the "woke" movement will lead to a broader negative response from the public .
She said: "We've got into this kind of polarised position now where either you believe this or want to react against this.
"People are feeling pushed into taking a stance where either everything is racist or nothing is racist, that we are either in favour of social justice or opposed to it.
"There is danger of a reaction that is going to be much less tolerant. My fear certainly is that we could lose progress on racial and gender equality."
The atomising of minority groups into tribes defined by particular grievances will only create "classes in conflict", Ms Pluckrose told Planet Normal, with real issues taken less and less seriously due to aggressive campaigning.
"The vast majority of trans activists don't believe in this stuff, they don't behave in this way", she explained.
"Because we have trans activists so visible in all this, we see an increase in hostility to trans people."
The writer and academic believes that the ideology of victimhood and social justice has pervaded business, with companies unwittingly supporting Black Lives Matter without realising the often Marxist ideological commitment of the group's "extreme core".
Those who speak out against the pressure to conform to the "woke" worldview, she added, better be rich enough to not be beholden to companies increasingly sensitive to campaign pressure and grievances.
She said: "The only people who can safely speak out about this are people like JK Rowling, she's financially secure, she is not very easy to cancel.
"Only people who are financially independent can speak."
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