Coming Clean: The Rise of Critical Theory and the Future of the Left
When: Friday, May 23, 2025, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: Online or in-person at Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place London W2 1QJ
The Media Diversity Institute (London – Brussels) and the Centre for Law, Democracy, and Society, Queen Mary University of London present:
Coming Clean: The Rise of Critical Theory and the Future of the Left - A new book by Professor Eric Heinze
What has gone wrong with the left—and what leftists must do if they want to change politics, ethics, and minds?
Professor Heinze will discuss this question with Edmundo Bracho-Polanco, Senior Lecturer and Programme Coordinator, School of Media and Communication, University of Westminster.
The discussion will be moderated by Paul Henley, a BBC radio presenter specialising in international affairs.
The audience is very welcome to take part in the discussion.
Online tickets are available for those unable to attend in person. A signing of the book will follow the discussion.
About the Book
Leftists have long taught that people in the West must take responsibility for centuries of classism, racism, colonialism, patriarchy, and other gross injustices. Of course, right-wingers constantly ridicule this claim for its “wokeness.”
In Coming Clean, Eric Heinze rejects the idea that we should be less woke. In fact, we need more wokeness, but of a new kind. Yes, we must teach about these bleak pasts, but we must also educate the public about the left's own support for regimes that damaged and destroyed millions of lives for over a century—Stalin in the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong in China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, or the Kim dynasty in North Korea.
Criticisms of Western wrongdoing are certainly important, yet Heinze explains that leftists have rarely engaged in the kinds of open and public self-scrutiny that they demand from others. Citing examples as different as the Ukraine war, LGBTQ+ people in Cuba, the concept of “hatred,” and the problem of leftwing antisemitism, Heinze explains why and how the left must change its memory politics if it is to claim any ethical high ground.
About the Author
Eric Heinze is the author of The Most Human Right: Why Free Speech is Everything (MIT Press) among other books. A Professor of Law and Humanities at Queen Mary University of London, he has published over 100 articles and has been featured in radio and television and other media around the world. Heinze is a graduate of Harvard Law School and has held major research fellowships including Fulbright (US), DAAD (Germany), Chateaubriand (France), and HERA (EU). Heinze is a trustee of the Media Diversity Institute.
About Media Diversity Institute
The Media Diversity Institute (MDI) works internationally to encourage and facilitate responsible media coverage of diversity. It aims to prevent the media from intentionally or unintentionally spreading prejudice, intolerance and hatred, which can lead to social tensions, disputes and violent conflict. MDI encourages fair, accurate, inclusive and sensitive media coverage to promote understanding between different groups and cultures. MDI applies a comprehensive and holistic approach of engagement, education and training of all the actors in society who can influence media coverage of diversity.