The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World

by Andrew Doyle

Critical Race Theory originated in the work of American legal scholars such as Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Richard Delgado and Mari Matsuda, but has now expanded further afield. Its online disciples – those who are perhaps not so well read in the subject they seek to defend – often attempt to ‘gaslight’ critics by claiming that any concerns about the impact of Critical Race Theory on society are futile given that, as a field of study, it is restricted to law schools. Yet the practice has been rolled out throughout American universities, corporate training schemes, public services and government policies. It is astonishing that the lie of Critical Race Theory as a specifically legal discipline should have been so widely accepted, given that there have been hundreds of articles, books and podcast discussions on the importance of applying it to one’s pedagogical approach at all levels of the educational system. Perhaps its defenders hold their critics in such low esteem that they assume they struggle with the concept of an internet search engine. As early as 1995, Gloria Ladson-Billings and William F. Tate IV were arguing for ‘a critical race theoretical perspective in education analogous to that of critical race theory in legal scholarship’. For those who sincerely believe that Critical Race Theory is unrelated to the field of education, I would recommend the following books: Critical Race Theory in Education (2006), edited by Adrienne D. Dixson and Celia K. Rousseau An...