Joanna Williams

Joanna Williams, writer and founder of the think tank Cieo and director of the Freedom, Democracy and Victimhood Project at Civitas, discusses the debate over free speech theorising the roots of the current culture war, the institutional capture of identity politics and the appropriate responses that individuals ought to undertake in pushing back against the present-day bullying atmosphere. Referencing the #Metoo era, BLM and the trans movement, Williams elaborates how identity politics is the result of a major cultural shift over the past fifty years where gaining social status is dependent upon the celebration of victimhood, suffering and vulnerability instead of the veneration of heroes and achievement.