How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement

“This is strong stuff.” —Sam Tanenhaus, The New York Times Book Review
“[O]ne of the sharpest and funniest writers on the internet. I don’t agree with everything he says, but he’s always thoughtful and he pushes me to think. I hope his new book, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, will be read especially by those on the left, because the left is where his heart lies and the failings of the left seem to break his heart most.”

—Pamela Paul, The New York Times
“DeBoer’s writing can be withering, as the best polemics often are, and few people will agree with all of his arguments. But his central point is important, whether you’re part of the political left, center or right: Calling out injustice isn’t the same as fighting it.”

—David Leonhardt, The New York Times’s “The Morning” newsletter
“A nuanced look at how movements for social change can actually succeed — rather than getting bogged down by empty gestures and inertia — from one of the most thoughtful and interesting writers out there.” —The New York Post
“Freddie deBoer is someone I have long passionately disagreed with, but he writes like a dream, has a relentless intellect, and is always, always worth reading. Sharp, funny, brutal and able to skewer every conventional political platitude, he is particularly merciless tackling his own side.”

—Andrew Sullivan

Fredrik deBoer is a writer and academic. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, New York magazine, The Boston Globe, Playboy, and Harper’s Magazine, among many others.

He is the author of The Cult of Smart, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, and the novel The Mind Reels.

He holds a PhD in English with a concentration in writing assessment and higher education policy from Purdue University. He lives in Connecticut with his family.

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