[dragonwriter]

> The more extreme ideologies of DEI like critical race theory are closely associated with (in American terms) "the liberal left".

“Critical race theory” isn’t either extreme or an ideology, its a fairly mainstream historiographic approach (it was a novel, but not particularly extreme, idea in its field nearly half a century ago, but now its not even that) that the American Right has recently adopted public opposition to (especially, oddly enough, in places it isn’t being promoted) as a tribal identity symbol (alongside election conspiracy theories and defiance of COVID precautions.)

EDIT: It’s particularly odd to call “critical race theory” as an “extreme ideology of DEI” since DEI existing at all as a thing is based on a mainstream understanding of reality developed through critical race theory.

[astrange]

They've adopted public opposition to the words "critical race theory" and have essentially just made up a definition of what that is, or rather not defined it at all[1].

The level of discourse they're at doesn't admit discussing actual grad school critical theories, it's just a chance to bring back older school curriculums like that we didn't do anything bad to the Indians, the Civil War wasn't about slavery, MLK had a point but we've done all he asked for, etc.

[1] https://www.rawstory.com/pete-ricketts/

[greenail]

"DEI existing at all as a thing is based on a mainstream understanding of reality developed through critical race theory."

This strikes me as a very postmodern and intersectionalist view. My reply pointing out the ideological progression as:

marxism -> neo marxism -> postmodernism -> critical theory -> critical race theory -> anti-racism

was downvoted. Your post seems to validate it though.

[dragonwriter]

> This strikes me as a very postmodern and intersectionalist view.

There's nothing “postmodern or intersectionalist” about noting the historical factual sequence:

critical race theory (1970s+) -> detailed analysis of post-civil-rights structural/institutional barriers to racial progress -> modern DEI

[greenail]

The idea that you can understand reality through CRT was what struck me postmodern/intersectionalist not the historical sequence. "lived experience" as truth and all that.

[dragonwriter]

CRT, like critical theory more generally, has both modernist and postmodernist branches (contrary to the Right’s typical propaganda, which tends, confusingly, to associate it vert tightly with postmodernism despite also associating it very tightly with Marxism, which is extremely modernist.)

I suppose your comment would make some distant sense if only the postmodernist branch of CRT existed.