Decline of Antiracism and the Future of Progressive Politics

John Torpey is Presidential Professor of Sociology and History and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author or editor of a number of books, including Intellectuals, Socialism, and Dissent (1995), Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe (2005), and The Three Axial Ages (2017). He is on the editorial board of Theory and Social Inquiry and edits a series for Temple University Press titled “Politics, History, and Social Change.” In 2016–2017, he was the president of the Eastern Sociological Society.

Professor Torpey’s book is a much-needed tonic to the flood of bromide-heavy literature on racial inequality that has come to dominate since 2020. Among the things that separates Torpey’s book is his attentiveness to historical and political context. He makes clear that the backdrop for antiracism is the retreat from political-economic understandings of inequality in favor of culturalist or even individualist interpretations/fixes of/for racial disparities. Where we find ourselves in the current moment, a fresh re-examination of the divisions that exist and the potential bridges and alliances that can be facilitated is desperately in order. As such, this book is very timely and offers a way forward for the challenges to be confronted. Touré Reed, Professor of History, Illinois State UniversityThis is the most comprehensive treatment I have read about the origins of the identitarian left, why it succeeded for a time, and why it ultimately helped to produce a backlash against America’s great research universities. John Torpey is a skillful researcher and insightful observer. He shows that the racial politics of America’s leading cultural institutions often obscured deeper class realities – whether in the upper-SES biases of Ivy League diversification efforts or in the misreporting of allegedly racial hate crimes. The only solution to the dead end of identitarian politics, Torpey contends, is to turn our attention to addressing the injustices caused by class inequalities that affect whites and non-whites alike.Steven Brint, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, University of California, Riverside, and author of Two Cheers for Higher EducationIn The Decline of Antiracism and the Future of Progressive Politics, John Torpey’s analysis of the misadventures of academic "antiracism" is knowledgeable, illuminating, and bracing. He posits provocative claims – for instance, that the antiracism movement has been as much counterproductive as progressive – that he unpacks with a winning combination of boldness and discipline. A piercing critic of sloppy and reckless thinking, Torpey offers useful guidance at a perilous moment.Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law, Harvard Law SchoolDemocrats who want to figure out how their party lost America’s confidence must read The Decline of Antiracism and the Future of Progressive Politics. In trenchant prose, John Torpey shows how the deeply unpopular ethos of the Black Power movement, dressed up in new language, transformed higher education and the progressive movement. Many elites in the press missed the story, but as Torpey demonstrates in this superb narrative, working-class voters noticed and didn't like what they saw. This fair-minded book documents where liberalism went wrong, and how it can regain the early glory of the civil rights movement.Richard D. Kahlenberg, Author, Class Matters: The Fight to Get Beyond Race Preferences, Reduce Inequality and Build Real Diversity in America’s CollegesProgressives seeking to end poverty and strengthen democracy have, in recent years, often focused on what divides us. In The Decline of Antiracism and the Future of Progressive Politics, John Torpey argues that this emphasis on difference has undermined the left’s broader goals. He makes a compelling case for renewing progressive politics by reclaiming the power of shared values and common purpose.John Atlas, author of Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group

• 1. The Shifting Ground: From the Civil Rights Movement to Contemporary Antiracism, 2. In the Workplace: Contemporary Antiracism and the Excesses of the Diversity Industry, 3. The Past That’s Not Even Past: Controversies Over The 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory, 4. Antiracism and High Schools, 5. Reproducing Inequality: Princeton University and Queens College Compared, 6. The Wrong Conclusion: How Coverage of the Atlanta Spa Shootings Went Off the Rails, 7. Beyond the Antiracism Movement, 8. Backlash