We Need New Stories: The Myths that Subvert Freedom

by Nesrine Malik

Overview

Named a Most Anticipated Book of Spring 2021 by Publishers Weekly

A rigorous examination of six political myths used to deflect and discredit demands for social justice.

In 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump declared: "I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct." Reeling from his victory, Democrats blamed the corrosive effect of "identity politics." When banned from Twitter for inciting violence, Trump and his supporters claimed that the measure was an assault on "free speech." In We Need New Stories, Nesrine Malik explains that all of these arguments are political myths—variations on the lie that American values are under assault.

Exploring how these and other common political myths function, she breaks down how they are employed to subvert calls for equality from historically disenfranchised groups. Interweaving reportage with an incendiary analysis of American history and politics, she offers a compelling account of how calls to preserve "free speech" are used against the vulnerable; how a fixation with "wokeness," "political correctness," and "cancel culture" is in fact an organized and well-funded campaign by elites; and how the fear of racial minorities and their “identity politics” obscures the biggest threat of all—white terrorism. What emerges is a radical framework for understanding the crises roiling American contemporary politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324007296
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/11/2021
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Nesrine Malik is an award-winning British-Sudanese columnist and features writer for the Guardian. We Need New Stories is her first book. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

1 The Myth of the Reliable Narrator 7

2 The Myth of a Political Correctness Crisis 20

3 The Myth of the Free Speech Crisis 55

4 The Myth of Harmful Identity Politics 87

5 The Myth of National Exceptionalism 120

6 The Myth of Gender Equality 150

Conclusion 180

Notes 197

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2021

Guardian columnist Malik debuts with a persuasive debunking of political and cultural myths that impede social justice in the U.S. and U.K. One such notion is that mainstream media outlets such as the BBC are neutral observers and not part of white-led, establishmentarian networks that “speaks truth’s power.” She also traces the origin of the idea that political correctness “stifl free thought and intellectual inquiry” to think tanks funded by wealthy conservatives in order to combat the influence of liberal universities, and shows how self-interested social media companies have helped push the narrative that free speech protections should be “as absolute as possible,” even when the speech in question “silences the voices of others or puts them in danger of violence.” Disputing the myth that feminism has gone too far and now seeks to marginalize men, Malik points to the rollback of abortion rights, the persistence of the gender pay gap, and the lack of protections against “cybersexual harassment.” Malik fluidly incorporates her experiences as a media commentator and the daughter of a conservative Muslim family, and draws on the work of scholars including Judith Butler and Jerry Lembcke. This is a lucid reminder that the fight for equality is a battle of ideas. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"An acute and nuanced interrogator of contemporary prejudices, Nesrine Malik writes with immense moral courage and intellectual power."

Pankaj Mishra

"Malik presents fierce opinions and cogent observations that deliver a deeply intelligent and powerfully provocative work that calls into question long-held beliefs of both the left and the right."

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