A spectre is haunting us, the spectre of “cancel culture”. The spectre is haunting places where people do not behave in a “politically correct” manner and are subsequently removed from the discourse by a morally elevated group. This social act of boycotting is described in neojargon as “canceling”. Critics see it as an attack on the fundamental values of liberal democracies, some even see it as a new form of “witch-hunt”. What is the truth of the “cancel culture” myth? Are we really facing the collapse of the democratic order?
About the person
Adrian Daub, born in Cologne in 1980, is Professor of Comparative Literature at the renowned Stanford University (USA). He is the author of several books, including “Was das Valley denken nennt - Über die Ideologie der Techbranche” [“What the Valley Calls Thinking - On the Ideology of the Tech Industry”] (2020) and “Cancel Culture Transfer - Wie eine moralische Panik die Welt erfasst” [“Cancel Culture Transfer - How a State of Moral Panic is Taking Hold of the World”](2022)