Cancel This Book

Examining a phenomenon that is sweeping the country, Cancel This Book shines the spotlight on the suppression of open and candid debate.

The public shaming of individuals for actual or perceived offences, often against emerging notions of proper racial and gender norms and relations, has become commonplace. In a number of cases, the shaming is accompanied by calls for the offending individuals to lose their jobs, positions, or other status. Frequently, those targeted for cancellation simply do not know the latest, ever-changing norms (often related to language) that they are accused of transgressing—or they have honest questions about issues that have been deemed off-limits for debate and discussion.

Cancel This Book offers a unique perspective from Dan Kovalik, a progressive author who supports the ongoing movements for racial and gender equality and justice, but who is concerned about the prevalence of cancelling people, especially those who are well-intentioned and who are themselves allied with these movements.

While many progressives believe that cancelling others is a form of activism and holding others accountable, Cancel This Book argues that cancellation is often counter-productive and destructive to the very values which the cancellers claim to support. Indeed, instances in the workplace now show employers using this spirit of cancellation to pit employees against each other, exert more control over the workforce, and undermine worker and labour solidarity.

Kovalik observes that many progressives are quietly opposed to this "Cancel Culture" and many instances of cancellation they witness, but they are afraid to air these concerns publicly lest they themselves be cancelled. The result is the suppression of open debate about important issues involving racial and gender matters, and even issues related to how to best confront the current COVID-19 pandemic. While people speak in whispers about their true feelings, critical debate and discussion are avoided, resentments build, and the movement for justice and equality is ultimately disserved.