Richard’s book is the definitive account on the origins of one of the most extraordinary social transitions in modern American history. To understand the cultural revolution sweeping the US and how to fight it, you must read this book—it is as simple as that.” — SAAGAR ENJETI, cohost of Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar and author of The Populist’s Guide to 2020
“Richard Hanania is a daring and engaging writer who cuts to the heart of the modern civil rights regime, which has had a profound but often hidden impact on American life. He explores the problems, absurdities, and unintended consequences of this form of governance—and outlines a path for reform.” — CHRISTOPHER F. RUFO, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of America’s Cultural Revolution
“DEI will never d-i-e from words alone—Hanania shows we need the sticks and stones of government violence to exorcise the diversity demon.” — PETER THIEL, entrepreneur and author of Zero to One
“Richard Hanania is unafraid to transcend the Overton Window on issues of race and gender because he is grounded in irrefutable facts and history. This book delivers a devastating kill shot to the intellectual foundations of identity politics in America. A must-read for liberals and conservatives alike.” — VIVEK RAMASWAMY, cofounder of Strive Asset Management and bestselling author of Woke Inc., Nation of Victims, and Capitalist Punishment
“Richard Hanania is one of America’s most important iconoclasts. The Origins of Woke is a pathbreaking analysis of how law has helped to create the culture wars of recent times. Not everyone will like it, but it is one of the most important books of this year—and everyone should read it.” — TYLER COWEN, professor of economics at George Mason University and author of The Complacent Class
“Richard Hanania is one of the most insightful, original, and provocative thinkers I follow. With meticulous research and Hanania’s distinctive style, The Origins of Woke offers an illuminating and refreshing perspective—a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the intricate interplay between culture, law, and institutions.” — ROB HENDERSON, Founding Faculty Fellow at the University of Austin and author of Troubled
“Most people think of ‘wokeness’ as a recent and purely cultural phenomenon. In this deeply researched and historically detailed book, Hanania traces its origins to distortions of civil rights law imposed by judges and bureaucrats over many decades, and he offers conservatives a playbook for fighting woke ideology in the fields of law and politics, where they can actually defeat it.” — DAVID SACKS, entrepreneur and host at All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
“Many pundits ridiculed Ibram X. Kendi, the high priest of wokeness, when he proposed creating a ‘Department of Anti-Racism’ that would censor ‘racist ideas’ and outlaw racial disparities. But what if such an agency already exists? In this trenchant and well-argued book, Richard Hanania shows how an ostensibly new phenomenon has its roots in a fifty-year-old legal regime—one that has strayed very far from the color-blind ideals that created it.” — AARON SIBARIUM, associate editor at the Washington Free Beacon
“Why is corporate America so woke? Combining social science and legal scholarship, Hanania provides a compelling answer: Not being woke is almost illegal. Elastic definitions of ‘discrimination’ expose the whole business world to incessant politically correct shakedowns. Instead of wasting energy refuting woke absurdities, Hanania advises a laser-like focus on curtailing civil rights litigation. Wokeness has triumphed in the marketplace of ideas with thinly veiled government backing. Take that backing away, and the woke threat will crumble.” — BRYAN CAPLAN, professor of economics at George Mason University and author of The Myth of the Rational Voter
“Hanania has it exactly right. The woke phenomenon isn’t going to go away until the legal system that brought it about undergoes serious correction. For decades, our civil rights laws have been subject to deliberate misinterpretations and ill-considered, sometimes incoherent, extensions. The incentives those laws created pushed the country into the situation we’re in now. We need to get back to fundamentals: Equal protection under the law.” — GAIL HERIOT, Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
