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Masters of Arts: Political Studies 

Masters Research Report 

John Dunlop 

841718 

 

 

The Politics of Cancel Culture: Origins, Identity, and Prognostications of 

Cancel Culture in South Africa. 

 

 

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree 

of Masters of Arts in Political Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the 

University of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg. 

Supervisor: Dr. Ayesha Omar 



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Declaration:  

I John Dunlop declare that this Masters Essay/ Research Report is my own, unaided work. It is 

being submitted for the Degree of Masters of Arts in Political Studies at the University of the 

Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at 

any other University. Where the efforts of others and the sources have been used or quoted, they 

all have been acknowledged by means of complete references. 

 

John Anthony Blackadder Dunlop                                                               Date: 15/03/2023 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Dedication: 

I would like to dedicate this research report and all the efforts put into it to my dearest Mother, 

Father, and Sister, for all their unconditional and unwavering encouragement and support for all 

my studies, research, and the obtainment of this degree. I would also like to dedicate this research 

report to my closest friends for their continuous mental and emotional support throughout this 

endeavour. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Acknowledgements: 

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincerest gratitude to Dr. Ayesha Omar for all 

her time, assistance, and guidance as my supervisor for this research report. Dr. Omar, I greatly 

appreciate all your input and advice, as well as your patience and understanding during these trying 

times. 

I would also like to thank the entire Political Studies Department at Wits University, especially all 

the professors who lectured on the courses I took throughout my undergraduate and postgraduate 

studies, as well as my fellow students, tutors, and admin staff. Without all of your hard work, 

teaching, guidance, assistance, support, and fellowship, I truly do not believe I would have made 

it to this point.  

I would also like to thank The University of the Witwatersrand as well as the Faculty of Humanities 

for allowing me the opportunity to study at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and for all 

the assistance which allowed for the expansion of my education and knowledge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Abstract: 

In this Research essay, I identify five socio-political developments, trends, and or features which 

characterize the relationship between Cancel Culture and South Africa. Firstly, because of Cancel 

Culture’s origins and notoriety, the concept was moulded in the United States and, therefore, a 

modern liberal device. Secondly, because of its roots Cancel Culture is also founded upon ideas 

around identity and woke politics. Thirdly, South Africa’s employment of Cancel Culture is 

justified within the country’s common and most troublesome socio-political struggles, which 

include issues with racism, decolonization, sexual assault, and gender-based violence. Fourthly, 

South African Cancel Culture, is ideologically and politically non-partisan, as there doesn’t seem 

to be an overload of opposition, claim and dismissal for the concept. Lastly, South Africa’s right-

wing conservatives and far-right factions are not as hyper-critical of Cancel Culture, and their 

discontent and critiques of the socio-political phenomenon are not well published when compared 

to the Western World. This essay argues and predicts that: firstly, Cancel Culture will not take an 

extensive period before it becomes a household name, and more cases or examples will follow. 

Secondly, Cancel Culture’s social media presence will escalate, which will allow for further 

development and evolution of the concept. Thirdly, Cancel Culture will become a prominent 

fixture and component among South Africa’s various Universities. There will be an upsurge in 

self-censorship and political correctness amongst South African citizens to prevent attempted 

cancellations. South African liberals and far-left advocates will continue to be Cancel Culture’s 

principal protagonists and perpetuators. Following that, right-wing, conservative, and far-right 

South Africans will aim to retort and resist the rise of Cancel Culture. I contend that parallel to the 

United States, Cancel Culture will continue to be an ineffective feature of South Africa’s 

contemporary socio-political environment. Lastly, because of Cancel Culture’s online presence 

and notoriety, the concept will have a dramatic increase in academic enquiry, research, and 

literature. 

 

 

 

 



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Contents: 

i. Cover Page 

ii. Dedication 

iii. Acknowledgements 

iv. Abstract 

1. Introduction to research Essay........................................................................Pg.7-9. 

2. Literature Review............................................................................................Pg.10-16. 

3. Research question: .........................................................................................Pg.17-19. 

v. 4.1. Key questions.................................................................................................Pg.17. 

vi. 4.2. Aims and Objectives......................................................................................Pg 17-19. 

4. Methodology...................................................................................................Pg.20-21. 

5. Ethical Considerations.....................................................................................Pg.22. 

6. Essay Chapter outline......................................................................................Pg.23-24. 

7. Chapter 1……………………………………………………………………..Pg. 25-38. 

8. Chapter 2……………………………………………………………………..Pg. 39-52. 

9. Chapter 3……………………………………………………………………..Pg. 53-62. 

10. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...Pg. 63-65. 

11. References/ Bibliography................................................................................Pg. 66-77. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Introduction: 

The term Cancel Culture, although not particularly easy to define because of the multifaceted 

nature of the concept, has become one of the most widely cited and analyzed socio-political 

concepts in recent times. While the origins of the concept are still being contested, the idea of 

Cancel Culture is well established within various social movements and political ideologies such 

as Liberalism and identity politics. The term has been utilized as a descriptive symbol for a 

pronounced sense of protest against the actions or deeds of specific individuals, usually influential 

or famous. Cancel Culture also seems to be the heir apparent to previous forms of mass, socially 

orientated and normative disciplinary terms, or mechanisms; known as ‘callout culture’ and 

‘political correctness’. Aja Romano, in his article on Vox, argues that to be cancelled refers to the 

idea of being “culturally blocked from having a prominent public platform or career” (Romano. 

2020). Daniela Garcia provides an alternative description for Cancel Culture stating that:  

“Clearly Cancel Culture evolves around the idea of bringing justice for an offensive word, 

or action taken by any public figure. And, in a major part of the cases, it is displayed on 

the familiar pattern: A celebrity or other public figures does or says something offensive. 

Therefore, a public backlash, often fueled by politically progressive social media, ensues. 

Then come the calls to cancel the person — that is, to effectively end their career or revoke 

their cultural cachet, whether through boycotts of their work or disciplinary action from an 

employer. In other words, the person or group who is calling to cancel someone else is 

acting in the place of the jury with the motivation of the due responsibility of respect and 

honor that each person ought one another” (Garcia. 2021: pg. 3.).   

Younger generations, including those described as millennials (those born between 1980 and 1995) 

and generation Z (those born between 1996 and 2010) the so-called “woke generation”, are mostly 

utilizing social media and other platforms, to cancel individuals for behaviour deemed as 

inappropriate, unacceptable, and offensive (Dershowitz, A. M. 2020, Zille, H. 2021).  As 

mentioned, social media platforms have been a central base in which complaints, condemnation, 

and pleas for numerous individuals, some well-known and some who aren’t, are fired, de-

platformed, and effectively cancelled (Clark. 2020: pg. 88-90). Prime examples include the 

cancelling of R-Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, and J. K. Rowling. These particular individuals were 

lambasted online for their actions which were deemed socially unacceptable and were then 



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cancelled. The social proliferation of the idea of Cancel Culture is evident in the global setting, 

South Africa has for example, seen its own forms of social uproar which have been described as 

incidents of Cancel Culture. Some examples of social and professional exclusion and ostracism, 

whom South African people deemed as cancelled, including performing artists such as Jub Jub and 

Okmalumkookat, as well as prominent South African academics, political commentators and 

politicians like Adam Habib and Hellen Zille. It is unsurprising, considering South Africa’s 

historical and contemporary legacies and, socio-political fractures, that Cancel Culture has also 

become a prominent trend throughout South African society as well as in social media (Mdluli. 

2019.)  

This research paper aims to understand and elucidate the politics of Cancel Culture. To achieve 

this, my essay will consist of three core chapters. The first chapter is tasked with tracing and 

understanding the movement and concept of Cancel Culture as well as its origins around the world 

and especially in South Africa. This chapter will explore the genealogy, development, and 

methodology, as well as the various effects and marks Cancel Culture has left on the world and 

South Africa so far. Chapter two will aim to understand and explicate the world’s socio-political 

relationship with Cancel Culture as well as the World’s utilization of Cancel Culture through 

various ideologies and political theories such as Liberalism, Conservatism, Capitalism, right and 

left-wing politics, identity politics and more. This part of the essay will attempt to understand and 

adequately elucidate all the politics in and around Cancel Culture not only as a concept but as a 

socially orientated and normative disciplinary phenomenon. This will be accomplished by 

examining and dissecting, through a politically ideological lens, several Cancel Culture case 

studies from America and Great Britain, two nations which have the greatest number of concrete 

examples.   

The final chapter or section will aim to somewhat identify and understand the politics of Cancel 

Culture in South Africa as a whole. Through left and right political ideology, as well as identity 

politics this chapter will aim to elucidate Cancel Culture politics in general and at the various levels 

and societal areas in which South Africans seem to be applying the concept and perpetuating the 

movement. I aim to specifically highlight how the idea of Cancel Culture has taken root in South 

Africa, how Cancel Culture has taken shape and influenced South Africa’s socio-political 

landscape as well as how South Africans interacted with the phenomenon.  This will be 



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accomplished by analyzing and comparing three South African Cancel Culture case studies, that 

of the cancellations of Adam Habib, Helen Zilla, and Okmalumkookat. Then in light of all the 

research and evidence gathered, as well as the previous two chapters, I will propose and predict 

what the near future holds for South Africa and Cancel Culture as a political concept, phenomenon 

and social justice movement. This will include how and whether or not the concept will evolve 

and become normalized as a socio-political phenomenon, what it means for all South African 

citizens and the social policing of their behaviour, how South Africans will continue to react, 

respond, and utilize the concept and movement, and whether or not the concept or movement has 

a long-term future in South Africa. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Literature Review: 

The term or phrase ‘Cancel Culture’ became popularized and widespread throughout the world, 

not only in the Western world, between 2015 and 2018 where there were several high-profile and 

well-broadcasted ‘cancellations’ (Romano. 2020. Accessed 10 May 2021). What could be 

described as a social, political, economic, and cultural boycott of an individual, a celebrity, a group, 

or an organization and more, Cancel Culture has become a prominent, prevalent, and protuberant 

socio-political fixture, concept, and phenomenon. Although Cancel Culture has been utilized in 

and amongst other platforms and contexts, however, Cancel Culture owes most of its reputation, 

and popularity because of the internet and social media platforms. “This power is magnified by 

the pervasiveness and speed of the internet and social media, which are the weapons of choice 

deployed by Cancel Culture” (Dershowitz, 2020: pg. 14.). Cancel Culture has been a prominent 

fixture and instrument for various marginalized people or minority groups and especially for social 

justice movements and organizations around the world specifically in the United States of 

America. Cancel Culture’s proliferation amongst prominent social media platforms, mainly 

Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, has resulted in real-world consequences for many cancel 

targets. As certain actions and behaviour undertaken by individuals or groups are then, by the 

public at large, considered or viewed as offensive and problematic or are equated to serious social 

issues around identity such as racism, homophobia, sexism, and criminal or illicit activities and 

more (Garcia, D. A. 2021: pg. 6-8.). These prominent examples which are generally well published 

or spread publicly, when confronted by pleas for cancellation, the real-life consequences even if 

the alleged conduct is generally severe (Dershowitz, 2020: pg. 33.). 

Due to the lack of or the small quantity of peer-reviewed academic literature on the subject of 

Cancel Culture. I decided to undertake, this research report, to fill the gap within the literature 

which refers to a comprehensive identification and analysis of the origins of Cancel Culture, the 

politics of Cancel Culture, as well as its effect on and utilization in South Africa and the analysis 

and contextualization thereof. South Africa has a few useful examples and case studies where 

South Africans took to social media and used other means to attempt to cancel certain individuals 

as a form of justice for their precarious actions or behaviour. I will be utilizing three of these 

examples as case studies in alignment with the aims and objectives of my research essay/ thesis; 



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detailed in the sections to come, these examples will be that of the cancellations of Adam Habib, 

Hellen Zille, and Okmalumkoolkat. Cancel Culture and all aspects which coincide with the concept 

and movement, as the literature suggests, originated within liberal political spaces, and were 

initially utilized by left-wing, liberal progressives. Cancel Culture appears to be engrained within 

and is continuously operated and evolved by contemporary left-wing liberal political traditions. 

Although the majority of those who observe and follow right-wing political traditions are anti-

Cancel Culture, there are some examples of right-wing conservatives also utilizing the concept to 

amass political gains (Cook, C. L. Patel, A. 2021). However, there just is not enough evidence to 

suggest that there is a mutual and beneficial relationship for both sides of the spectrum, as Cancel 

Culture has most certainly benefitted the left on a larger scale and owes its notoriety and origins 

to liberal politics. 

Amongst the modest amount of literature that does exist, similar to most renowned socio-political 

concepts, there are various definitions of Cancel Culture and there doesn’t seem to be one accepted 

and concrete definition for the term. Eve Ng describes Cancel Culture as a “withdrawal of any 

kind of support for those who are assessed to have said or done something unacceptable or highly 

problematic, generally from a social justice perspective especially alert to sexism, heterosexism, 

homophobia, racism, bullying and related issues” (Ng. 2020: pg. 623). Some authors like Clark 

believe that canceling someone is an act and “expression of agency” because those who are doing 

the canceling are choosing to withdraw their support, time, and money from those individuals and 

organizations whose actions do not fall in line with their own values (Clark. 2020: pg. 88). Pippa 

Norris deemed Cancel Culture “as attempts to ostracize someone for violating social norms” 

(Norris. 2020: pg. 2). Whilst Joseph Velasco believes that “Cancel Culture is a form of public 

shaming initiated on social media to deprive someone of their usual clout or attention with the aim 

of making public discourse more diffused and less monopolized by those in positions of privilege” 

(Velasco. 2020: pg. 1). The one principle all the published and common definitions tend to share 

is that the intended or required result of a cancellation is that as a consequence for their behavior 

or actions there needs to be some sort of de-platforming or loss of support or patronage. 

The original premise of Cancel Culture began as a phenomenon and method for achieving social 

justice by individuals and groups who were seeking some sort of redress for being marginalized in 

various ways, a great example being the #MeToo Movement. Essentially, Cancel Culture became 



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a tool for ordinary citizens and social justice movements to be able to hold those in positions of 

power accountable not only over social media but within the tangible world as well (Clark. 2020: 

pg.91). Many academics and authors like Rocco Chiou, Gilles Favarel-Garrigues, Samuel Tanner, 

and Daniel Trottier also describe it as a form of digital or online vigilantism (Chiou. 2020. Favarel-

Garrigues. Tanner. Trottier. 2020). Cancel Culture has proven to be a controversial yet potent tool 

in addressing issues around racism, sexism, oppression and most if not all forms of discrimination 

or hate, especially for those who suffer from such experiences yet never really had some sort of 

countermeasure, platform, and mechanism, until recently with social media and Cancel Culture 

(Chiou, 2020). However, the majority of critics, as we will see further on in this literature review, 

have and continue to argue that Cancel Culture also infringes on the freedom of others, mainly the 

freedoms of expression and speech. 

Cancel Culture appears to be an evolved and more potent version of other similar and notorious 

concepts such as political correctness and call-out culture, as these were utilized for similar 

purposes, with the differences lying in methodology and consequences. Political correctness, a 

term and concept which has been traced back to the 1970s, refers to the avoidance of language, 

behaviour and actions which would be deemed insulting, harmful, or offensive by those individuals 

and groups who face extensive issues around discrimination (Hillman. 1998. Butterbaugh. 

Jackson. & Branner. 1994). Call-out culture on the other hand is a more contemporary model for 

the protection and maintenance of accepted, modern-day social norms, which may also be seen as 

one of Cancel Cultures’ predecessors. Asam Ahmad states:  

“Call-out culture refers to the tendency among progressives, radicals, activists, and 

community organizers to publicly name instances or patterns of oppressive behaviour and 

language used by others. People can be called out for statements and actions that are sexist, 

racist, ableist, and the list goes on. Because call-outs tend to be public, they can enable a 

particularly armchair and academic brand of activism: one in which the act of calling out 

is seen as an end in itself. (Ahmad. 2015).   

The literature suggests that Cancel Culture evolved from call-out culture, as the latter’s goal was 

to educate and prevent such ill-conceived actions, whilst the former aims to generate real and 

serious consequences for such actions (Rom. and Mitchell. 2021). 



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Being politically correct can be traced back to as early as the 1970s amongst liberal and feminist 

political traditions (Fairclough, N. 2003: pg. 18-23). Whilst Call-out culture seems to have its roots 

within more contemporary, online liberal, or leftist socio-political spaces, especially on social 

media platforms. Cancel Culture on the other hand, although considered call-out culture’s 

successor, was coined, and founded within contemporary African American culture, social justice 

movements and within what has come to be known as ‘Black Twitter’. This is an extremely popular 

and famed section or segment on the social media platform Twitter, Romano reports that the phrase 

Cancel Culture was coined by black Twitter and has since been perpetuated and utilized by 

individuals but especially social justice movements such as the ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘#Metoo’ 

movements (Romano. 2020 and 2021). It is thanks to social media trends and patterns which have 

allowed most if not all other marginalized communities to utilize and embrace Cancel Culture 

around the world. It is this shift in power dynamics which Cancel Culture transfers between those 

who normally control so much of it, such as celebrities, politicians, and organizations, and those 

who are ordinarily powerless against such individuals and groups. It is for this reason that Cancel 

Culture as spread to most parts of the world and is not merely being perpetuated in the United 

States of America and it’s thanks to social media and the internet as Gwen Bouvier and David 

Machin state: “Individuals and groups, formerly lacking a platform to speak, are now able to be 

heard, share their ideas and mobilize themselves and others” (Bouvier. Machin. 2021: pg. 309). 

It is clear from the literature that Cancel Culture has been conceptualized and utilized as an 

instrument for socio-political gains by liberal, leftist progressives. As Daniella Garcia states: 

“Cancel Culture is being privileged with the power and responsibility to become judge for every 

decision that public figures make but especially whatever or whoever goes against what the left 

progressivist believe” (Garcia. 2021: pg. 6). Cancel Culture has also been described as and 

attributed to an aspect of ‘wokeness’ or part of woke politics. “Cancel Culture is a manifestation 

of “wokeism” which is “an ideology that views reality as socially constructed and defined by 

power, oppression, and group identity” (Velasco. 2020: pg. 2. & Beiner. 2020). In simple terms, 

to be woke in contemporary society means to be consciously aware of and knowledgeable about 

social issues around discrimination and injustice, hence the linkages between Cancel Culture and 

wokeism (Kanai, A. and Gill, R. 2020: pg. 10-16). Proponents of Cancel Culture highlight and 

boaster a defence for their concept in the works of Herbert Marcuse, especially in his essay 

“repressive Tolerance” he argues that “When tolerance mainly serves the protection and 



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preservation of a repressive society, when it serves to neutralize opposition and to render men 

immune against other and better forms of life, then tolerance has been perverted” (Marcuse. 1865: 

pg. 10). There have been examples of the conservative right also utilizing Cancel Culture, albeit 

on their terms and without using the actual term. However, Cancel Culture’s most fierce opponents 

tend to associate themselves with right-wing politics. Pippa Norris delineates that.  

“Conservatives argue that recent years have seen growing silencing of contrarian voices 

challenging the liberal hegemony in many cultural spaces, but especially in the academy, 

thereby limiting freedom of speech, increasing social pressures for ideological conformity, 

reinforcing intellectual exclusion, group-think bubbles, ‘Us-Them’ segregation, academic 

intolerance, and self-censorship. The net result, critics claim, is a rush to collective 

judgment and a new climate of censorship by the ‘mob’, magnifying even minor errors of 

judgment” (Norris. 2020: pg. 3). 

The principal argument that stems from right-wing political traditions and what the majority of 

conservatives contest Cancel Culture with is how Cancel Culture infringes on their right to 

freedom of speech or expression. Conservative rightists maintain that the tactics of the left when 

attempting to or successfully canceling someone is illiberal because it stifles one’s ability to 

express themselves in the way they choose (Rom, and Mitchel. 2021). Their most persuasive 

rationalization of this argument against Cancel Culture, however ironic it may seem, comes from 

the classic liberal work of John Stuart Mill and his essay “On Liberty” (1859).  In his essay Mill 

argues in favour of and profoundly defends free speech and because of this, conservatives argue 

that he would condemn Cancel Culture and would seriously oppose the tendency that Cancel 

Culture forces individuals into a state of self-censorship (Strossen. 2020: pg. 2). Throughout his 

essay, Mill argues in favour of free speech, the articulation of ideas whether right or wrong, and 

education thereafter. He argues that “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one 

person was of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one 

person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind,” (Mill. 1869: Ch. 

2.). Mill believed that freedom of speech leads to debate and the exchange of ideas and viewpoints, 

which then leads to the development and advancement of human intellect and progress. 

The literature also suggests that Cancel Culture and identity politics are inextricably linked because 

“the cultural climate has been saturated with identity politics and the incessant clamour for 



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recognition and respect for people of various identities – sexual, racial and gender” (Ejiofor, P. F. 

2020.). Although two to three decades prior, similar to Cancel Culture, identity politics theory and 

ideology spread around the world through various platforms because of its appeal to marginalized 

groups. This link is also heavily criticized by the political right as they describe it as “a kind of 

political correctness, or identity politics gone mad, carrying undertones of that they see as 

dangerous ‘Cultural Marxism’ intent on bringing down Western civilization” (Bouvier. Machin. 

2021: pg. 308.). Cancel Culture also maintains some links to intersectionality as the group nature 

and mob mentality of Cancel Culture often involves a multitude of grievances and participants. As 

Tynes et al. confirm:  “Countering dominant discourses on social media as the conversation is 

intersectional, multidimensional and less restricted. This enables users to effectively ‘talk back’ 

and mobilize around topics outside the view of the mainstream until they go viral at which point, 

they gain the desired attention of the mainstream media” (Tynes et al. 2016: pg. 33). Helen Lewis 

also suggests that capitalism perpetuates Cancel Culture because “private companies—institutions 

built on maximizing shareholder value, or other capitalist principles—struggle to acclimatize to 

life in a world where many consumers vocally support social-justice causes. Progressive values 

are now a powerful branding tool.” (Lewis. 2020.)  

Lastly, the three case studies of South African Cancel Culture to be analyzed and compared in this 

research report are as follows. Firstly, the cancelling of Adam Habib former vice chancellor of the 

University of the Witwatersrand and the current director of the School of Oriental and African 

Studies, at the University of London. In March 2021, Habib in his role at SOAS was suspended 

after using the n-word whilst conducting a meeting with students. He was suspended and 

‘canceled’ after a petition was created and he was heavily criticized and condemned over social 

media, as his actions were deemed racist by students, societies, some staff members, and many 

South African social media users (Ngqakamba. & Nkanjeni. 2021). The second example is that of 

the attempted cancellations of the former Premier of Cape Town and current chairperson of the 

Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance Hellen Zille, who has on multiple occasions been at 

the forefront of controversy with regard to her opinions and subsequent tweets on Colonialism, 

Apartheid, racism, and other contemporary socio-political matters. South Africans have 

continuously attempted to ‘cancel’ her for her problematic and controversial views (McCain. 2021, 

Campbell. 2017 & Nkanjeni. 2019 & Feliz. 2020). Lastly, the cancellation of Smiso Zwane, the 

South African Rap artist known as ‘OkMalumKoolat’ was cancelled after being convicted for 



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sexual assault whilst visiting Australia in 2016. Zwane was lambasted over social media and 

struggled to maintain bookings. However, he is still very influential within South Africa’s local 

music industry (Marshall. 2019. Grootboom. 2018 & Mdluli. 2019). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Research Question: 

The Politics of Cancel Culture: Origins, Identity, and Prognostications of Cancel Culture in South 

Africa. 

1. Key Questions: 

 What are the politics of Cancel Culture, not only as a global socio-political concept 

and phenomenon but more specifically in South Africa? 

 What are the origins and genealogy of Cancel Culture around the world, in 

countries where it has been most prevalent, as well as in South Africa?  

 How has the concept of Cancel Culture impacted South African society? What kind 

of connections does South Africa have with Cancel Culture?  

 How has left and right-wing, as well as identity politics ideology and theory 

affected South Africa’s relationship with and utilization of the concept of Cancel 

Culture?  

 What will be the ripple effects of South Africa’s connections with Cancel Culture 

in the near and far future? 

 Will Cancel Culture be a long-lasting and successful socio-political concept and 

social justice phenomenon in South Africa? 

  What levels of support and opposition will the utilization and promotion of Cancel 

Culture garner? 

 Will South Africans continue to evolve or regress the concept, or even ironically 

cancel the concept itself? 

2. Aims and Objectives: 

 My research essay, in its entirety, aims to understand, elucidate, and envisage the politics 

of Cancel Culture.  

 To trace and understand the movement and concept of Cancel Culture as well as its origins 

around the world and especially in South Africa. 



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 To research, investigate and clarify the origins, genealogy, development, utilization, 

methodology as well as the numerous effects and marks Cancel Culture has left on the 

world and South Africa so far. 

  To comprehend and explicate South Africa’s relationship with Cancel Culture as well as 

South Africa’s utilization of Cancel Culture.  

 To understand and clarify how South Africa’s connections with, and utilization of Cancel 

Culture have been affected by and through the ideology and political theory of Liberalism, 

Conservatism, and Identity Politics.  

 To accomplish the above two aims/ objectives, this research essay will aim to examine, 

dissect, and explicate, through a political ideological lens, several South African case 

studies, where individuals were cancelled by South African citizens using various means 

in order for sed individuals to be punished or scrutinized for their ill-conceived and 

precarious actions.  

 To make relative and comparative findings and conclusions how, considering South 

Africa’s notorious historical and contemporary relationships and links to issues with 

identity at their core such as racism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, classism, 

religion, political affiliations and more, left, and right-wing political ideology, and identity 

politics has played its part in these case studies. 

 To identify and understand the various levels, and societal areas in which South African 

citizens seem to be applying the concept and perpetuating this form of social justice 

movement.  

 In light of all the research and evidence gathered, this research essay will aim to propose 

and predict what the future holds for South Africa and Cancel Culture as a political concept 

and as a social justice movement/ phenomenon.  

 To understand and predict what kind of repercussions the proliferation of Cancel Culture 

could result in for South African citizens. 

 To also understand, clarify and predict how: South Africans currently and in the future will 

respond to the continued social policing of their behaviour,  



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 To make sense of how South Africans will continue to react, respond, and utilize the 

concept and movement, and whether or not the concept or movement has a long-term future 

in South Africa. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Methodology: 

Desk/ Secondary Research Study: 

1. Study/ Research setting: 

The majority of my primary research will and has been collected through secondary research, also 

known as desk research. The only research and data I have collected have originated from existing 

resources and literature. My study does not permit, require, or contain any field research or 

fieldwork. The various sources from which the majority of my research and data has been collected 

include published books, academic books, academic journals, academic articles, academic essays, 

online and offline news articles, as well as relative, accurate and reliable socio-politically 

orientated internet sources and articles,    

2. Study/ Research design: 

• Descriptive, Exploratory, Explanatory, and predictive/ prognosticative study: 

This research essay, because of its specificity, will essentially be a case study, using already 

existing research, data, and information, of the relationship between politics, Cancel Culture and 

South Africa. Therefore, my essay/ thesis will be descriptive, exploratory, explanatory, and 

predictive or prognosticative in nature because the core questions and objectives I wish to address 

and achieve require it. This research essay will explore, describe, and attempt to explain how and 

why, through data and information gathered, Cancel Culture has found its way into South Africa’s 

socio-political landscape. It will also explore, describe, and explain the connections between South 

Africa and Cancel Culture, as well as how and why political ideology has and will continue to play 

a large part in sed relationship. Lastly, this research essay will be predictive or prognosticative 

because the final chapter, and possibly one of the most important components of my essay, will be 

predicting how South Africa’s connections with Cancel Culture will develop or change in the near 

and far future. Using all the research and sources that I have and will gather, as well as the rest of 

my essay itself, I will attempt to ascertain or determine and clarify certain prognostications as to 

how the connections between South Africans and Cancel Culture will develop or evolve.  

• Theory testing and theory building research – Political Theory and Ideology. 



21 
 

Purely because there is a gap in the literature, with regard to the concise, expansive, and complex 

connections between left and right-wing political traditions, identity politics and Cancel Culture 

throughout the Western world and in South Africa, I will be testing and building upon political 

theory and ideology within the scope of my research essay.  

3. Target and study population: 

Purely because all my primary research and data I have collected originate from desk research/ 

secondary sources. My research or study will not involve or require any field research, so I will 

not require any research participants. However, as a whole, this essay will aim to target the interest 

of any South Africans and global citizens as my topic revolves around an extremely pertinent, 

contentious, and contemporary socio-political subject matter that could possibly affect any people 

at any time as evidence suggest anyone can be cancelled. 

4. Variables: 

Simply because I will not be undertaking any field work or research and all my research consists 

of desk research, there are no variables. 

5. Data collection: (Mixed Methods) 

• Non-Empirical research. 

As my research, sources and data collection has been collected through desk/ secondary research 

and because my research utilized political theory and ideology within left and right-wing political 

traditions, as well as identity politics this essay is non-empirical in nature. The research I have 

collected has been for contextual purposes, as the first few sections of this research essay will 

provide necessary historical, conceptual, and theoretical context about Cancel Culture and its 

political considerations. 

 

 

 

 

 



22 
 

Ethical Considerations: 

This research essay is not likely to infringe on too many if not any common ethical dilemmas. 

Considering the fact that I won’t be undertaking any field research, won’t be utilizing any human 

participants and all my research that has been done will only be secondary or desk research. Whilst 

writing and compiling this essay, I considered ethical issues about discrimination because I 

explored and clarified issues around identity such as race, class, religion, gender, sexuality and 

more whilst building upon and adding to identity politics literature. I also considered ethical issues 

around the possible deformation of character whilst reviewing, analyzing, explicating, comparing, 

and contrasting different South African examples and case studies where South African citizens 

were ‘cancelled.’ In order to avoid these possible ethical issues, I ensured that this essay contained 

no biases and attempted to remain completely objective whilst approaching issues around identity 

and when analyzing the above-mentioned case studies. There is a low chance, because of the nature 

of my topic, as well as the aims and objectives of this research essay, that individual South Africans 

or a specific group or demographic of South Africans will be harmed by this essay. Especially 

because my research is contextual, theory-based and reliant upon already existing literature, 

sources, and information.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Proposed Essay Chapter Outline: 

 Introduction: 

Introduction to the topic, the main questions, aims and objectives of the research, chapter outline 

and possible conclusions. 

 Chapter 1: The Origins, Conceptualization, and Genealogy of Cancel Culture. 

The first chapter is tasked with tracing and understanding the movement and concept of Cancel 

Culture as well as its origins and genealogy from the United States to all over the world and how 

it arrived in South Africa. 

 Chapter 2: The Politics of Cancel Culture 

Chapter two will aim to comprehend and explicate the world’s socio-political relationship with 

Cancel Culture as well as the World’s utilization of Cancel Culture through various ideologies and 

political theories such as Liberalism, Conservatism, Right and Left-wing politics, Capitalism 

identity politics and more. This will be accomplished by examining and dissecting, through a 

politically ideological lens, several Cancel Culture case studies from America and Great Britain, 

two nations which have the greatest number of concrete examples.  

 Chapter 3: The Politics of South African Cancel Culture: Predictions and 

Prognostications of Cancel Culture in South African Society. 

In this final chapter, I will aim to, with the utilization of and reference to the first two chapters, 

somewhat identify and understand the politics of Cancel Culture in South Africa as a whole. 

Through the political ideology, this chapter will aim to elucidate and divulge Cancel Culture 

politics in general and at the various levels and societal areas in which South Africans seem to be 

applying the concept and perpetuating the movement. Following that I will, in light of all the 

research and evidence gathered, as well as the previous two chapters, propose and predict what the 

near future holds for Cancel Culture in South Africa and Cancel Culture as a political concept and 

as a social justice phenomenon. 

 Conclusion: 



24 
 

A summation of the materials and findings provided within the four core chapters of this 

research essay/ thesis, as well as concluding remarks.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Chapter 1: The Origins, Conceptualization, and Genealogy of Cancel Culture. 

In this opening chapter, I aim to trace and understand the Socio-political phenomenon, and concept 

that is Cancel Culture, as well as its origins and genealogy around the world and how it came to 

be prevalent within South African citizen’s minds and social media accounts. Over the last few 

years, what I believe to be, a socialized form of non-state, publicly orientated, disciplinary 

phenomenon and socio-political concept known as Cancel Culture, has gained tremendous 

amounts of traction. What can be described as, in simple terms, the various actions and practices 

taken up by individuals in order to withdraw various if not all forms of support from other 

individuals and organizations. The most notable individuals and organizations who are adversely 

or justly affected by Cancel Culture mainly include celebrities, sports personalities, social 

influencers, wealthy individuals, political figures, political parties, as well as institutions, 

organizations, universities, and large corporations (Norris, 2021: pg. 2-4.). Mass calls for an 

individual or organization to be cancelled normally originate from various social media platforms 

such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more and are typically a response to any form of 

conduct which is deemed either offensive or immoral (Chiou, R. 2020: pg. 297-298.). 

Cancel Culture has quickly become a prominent social fixture and instrument for justice and 

reparations, which is often utilized by marginalized people, minority groups and social justice 

movements, especially in the United States of America. The predominant forms of conduct, which 

instigate the attempted cancelling, are usually deemed as offensive or problematic because they 

are deemed to be provocative towards serious socio-political and socio-economic issues. Social 

issues centered around identity are at the helm of the cancel movement, especially issues such as 

racism, homophobia, sexism, any form of discrimination, oppression as well as criminal or other 

illicit activities (Kovalik, D. 2021: pg. 139-149.). The consequences of Cancel Culture range in 

severity and are typically dependent on the circumstances of the case; the most common outcome 

of a successful cancellation is some form of modern-day social and cultural ostracism (Norris, 

2021: pg. 4 and 27.). 

Many people, groups and organizations believe Cancel Culture to be beneficial to society, mostly 

those who lean towards the political left. However, many also believe Cancel Culture to be a 

detriment to society, mainly those who affiliate themselves with the political right. (Dershowitz 

2020: pg. 53-54.). Those who are in favour of Cancel Culture understand it to be able to place 



26 
 

power back into the hands of the general public in order to hold influential figures accountable for 

their misconduct and behaviour which they consider to be unacceptable. It provides for an 

intangible device which can be utilized by ordinary citizens who own a phone and maintain a 

reasonable social media presence, in order to punish and ostracize individuals who have acted 

against social norms. Many social justice movements and organizations have utilized Cancel 

Culture to achieve justice for those who have been marginalized in various ways, simply because 

they struggle to hold powerful figures and organizations accountable by utilizing ordinary means 

(Cook, C. L. Patel, A. Guisihan, M. Wohn, D. Y. 2021: pg. 2-9.). However, on the opposite 

spectrum, critics believe that Cancel Culture leads to unnecessary reputational damage and 

destruction to the lives of those who get cancelled. Cancel Culture has also fashioned opposing 

perspectives which claim that the phenomenon has and will continue to stifle necessary rights and 

principles such as freedom of speech and expression as well as concepts like academic freedom 

and more. (Dershowitz. 2020: pg. 20-23.) If the pleas for an individual to become cancelled are 

successful, possible repercussions of the social ostracization which follows usually include the 

cancelled individual or organization being boycotted on numerous professional, financial, and 

personal levels. (Norris. 2020: pg. 2) In these cases it is simple for one to observe that when the 

cancellations are warranted, and justifiable Cancel Culture may be advantageous for those seeking 

justice and redress. Whilst simultaneously, cancellations which are unwarranted and unjustifiable 

can be particularly damaging to an individual’s life; be it their social status and reputation, or their 

career and livelihood.  

High-profile cases of Cancel Culture are typically triggered by influential individuals or 

organizations doing or stating something which causes some form of harm, violation and offence 

to certain persons, groups, communities, and social justice movements. Many cancelled celebrities, 

which I will go into further detail later on in this chapter, are boycotted and ostracized because of 

accusations and proof of sexist, homophobic, racist, transphobic, or violent conduct and 

statements. Cancel Culture is slowly becoming considered an effective way of holding famous, 

wealthy, and powerful individuals and organizations to account for actions which may have no 

other legal recourse (Thiele, M. 2021: pg. 51-54). By publicly shaming and alerting the public to 

the grievances levelled against the accused. Cancel Culture seems to force supporters, employers, 

sponsors, and other stakeholders into either boycotting, distancing or in extreme cases completely 

terminating their relationships with the accused. It is therefore not naïve to deduce that Cancel 



27 
 

Culture has become a balancing instrument between those individuals and companies who 

ordinarily seem socially, politically, and economically untouchable and those ordinary citizens, 

communities and organizations who are not as formidable. 

However, is Cancel Culture truly a ‘social movement’? A social movement can be defined as 

Anthony Giddens puts it a “collective effort to realize a common interest or common goal through 

collective action outside the scope of established institutions (Waani, M. S. Wempi, J. A. 2021: 

pg. 267). According to Greg Martin new social movements, similar to Cancel Culture, are 

“relevant because it focusses on changing the culture of society and solving problems”, whilst 

Macionis in ‘Sociology’ defines social movements as “organized activities that encourage or 

prevent social change” (Martin, G. 2001, Macionis, J. J. 2017: pg. 631). According to these 

definitions and interpretations Cancel Culture most definitely qualifies. Considering that the 

majority of attempts to cancel are conducted on a large scale by numerous social media users, who 

don’t utilize traditional established devices, who generally aim to solve a problem or prevent 

conduct which may contribute to serious social issues. Who also, ultimately through cancelling, 

want to prevent further harm and implement positive changes for such conduct and issues to be 

reduced. 

The complicated genealogy of Cancel Culture. 

Although the actual term ‘Cancel Culture’ has only fairly recently risen to global prominence and 

become widely utilized and referenced amongst this contemporary social media era. The act of 

public shaming has been around for centuries, public displays of punishment and condemnation 

have been used, throughout history, in order to hold individuals accountable for their actions. 

Public shaming such as stockades, public trials, and hangings, were used on criminals and 

individuals who did not abide by the societal norms of those periods (Mishan, L. 2020). A near-

perfect example is the public dismissal, shaming, and eventual conviction of Galileo Galilei, one 

of Science’s pioneering contributors and astronomers. Galileo believed and was steadfast in their 

defence, that his theories proved both the bible and the Roman Catholic Church incorrect. It is 

because of these controversial, at the time, convictions, that he and his body of scientific work 

were condemned as heresy by the church and the general public, and he was then shunned and 

eventually convicted. (Lindberg, D. C. 2003.) Many examples like that of Galileo are evident 

throughout history, especially when it relates to marginalized groups and individuals who were 



28 
 

groundbreakingly different, unconventional, and dissimilar in appearance and beliefs. Women 

have been persecuted ostracized, rebuked, and unrecognized throughout history as witches and as 

important role players in many industries, and especially in the field of science (Green, K., & 

Bigelow, J. 1998: pg. 199-205). Many individuals, cultures and communities throughout the world 

have had much if not all their contributions to the world, be it through math, science, engineering, 

agriculture, communication, and their general way of living, destroyed, hidden, or blackballed by 

the methods and actions of colonial and Western powers through cultural Imperialism (Misra, A. 

2021).  

Many countries and cultures around the world were also extremely creative in publicly shaming 

traitors, cowards, and abstainers during periods of war. Simply because they turned their backs on 

what was viewed as socially acceptable at the time, which was a sense of patriotism and an 

expected duty to defend one’s own country. (Dudenhoefer, N. 2020, Accessed 10 May 2021) On 

the other hand, public shaming has simultaneously been upheld and perpetuated as a form of social 

practice which is understood to wield positive and communally uplifting results. In the article 

referenced above, Amanda Koontz, an associate professor of sociology at the University of 

California, states that “public shaming is a long-standing public ritual that helped to uphold social 

bonds and make sure people within communities were equal and understood the norms, and to 

ensure no one got too high and mighty,” (Koontz, A in Dudenhoefer. 2020). Although Cancel 

Culture is a far more modern adaptation of public shaming, the commonalities are exceedingly 

apparent, except for the modus operandi-like physical nature of other historical forms of public 

shaming such as stockades and public executions. 

To avoid varying levels of social exclusion and social disjunction, especially prior to the dawn of 

the 21st century, individuals and communities tried their utmost to not deviate from the social 

norms and standards that were acceptable at the time. As Ali and Miller confirm: “Ostracism is a 

form of community enforcement in which a guilty player is punished by all her partners, while 

innocent players continue to cooperate with each other.” (Ali, S. N. and Miller, D. A. 2016: pg. 

2329) In the past institutionalized religion, racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of 

regulated oppression created and perpetuated social norms which allowed for the social ostracism 

of men, women, people of different races, religions, and even social classes. All across the world 

being a homosexual, an atheist, a Muslim, or a man or woman of different race or ethnicity, meant 



29 
 

that you would be ostracized from the social world around you. Ostracized not only by oppressive 

laws but by the community standards and principles instilled by these very laws and the norms 

they created (Ali. & Miller. 2016: pg. 2330-238.). Although the contemporary world does still 

struggle with these social and political difficulties, which are a major causation for the proliferation 

of Cancel Culture. In the past, it was far easier to be publicly shamed and ostracized for these 

oppressive reasons because they operated according to law, politics, religious doctrine, and 

historical heritage and were perpetuated by ordinary citizens.  

However, public shaming as well as various forms of social, political, and economic ostracism, 

prior to the onset of the 21st century, had also been an effective instrument for both the powerful 

and those marginalized groups and individuals who choose to not accept and dispute the status 

quo. There are many examples of celebrities and prominent figures being publicly and even 

economically alienated, blackballed, and essentially ‘cancelled’ without even realizing it. As Tessa 

Schlesinger so bluntly and correctly states “Cancel Culture is not a new phenomenon. It has always 

been used by the powerful to isolate those of whom they disapproved. Cancel Culture is merely a 

retaliation of the many against the few” (Schlesinger, T. 2020). Yes, this quote mostly represents 

the plight of those who have utilized and continue to perpetuate Cancel Culture within 

contemporary times. However, it also has standing for those who stood up to those powerful and 

infamous figures and organizations who acted in, what they deemed to be, a morally objectionable 

and unacceptable manner. Although discernibly, these kinds of events occurred well before the 

modern day, socially and morally orientated resistance phenomenon known as Cancel Culture. 

These actions, one can argue, if given the opportunity and the correct amount of analysis and 

attention, could be labelled as features of, or part of the original foundations of the contemporary, 

social media-based phenomenon. 

Many examples of non-characterized Cancel Culture, public shaming and social ostracism 

occurred long before Cancel Culture itself came to be a popular socio-political term and social 

phenomenon. These examples also occurred even before one of Cancel Culture’s chief contextual 

ancestors became a prominent socio-political term and fixture in the 1990s, referring to what is 

known as ‘Political Correctness’. During the late 1940s, as well as throughout the 1950s and early 

1960s, a psychologist by the name of Dr. Frederic Wertham openly and publicly criticized comic 

books and even authored a book in 1954 titled ‘Seduction of the Innocent’. His book served “as 



30 
 

historical and cultural touchstones of the anti-comics movement in the United States during the 

1940s and 1950s” (Tilley, C. L. 2012: pg. 383.). His criticism of comic books was that they were 

leading to increased child delinquency and a drop in general child welfare, leading to a massive 

decrease in comic book sales and even the public burning of comics (Tilley, C. L. 2012: pg. 383-

384.). Even one of the most historically renowned rock and roll music bands ‘The Beatles’, faced 

boycotts and the burning or destruction of their record albums. In 1966 after John Lennon, one of 

the bands leading members, made a statement in an interview which angered certain factions of 

American society. In an interview with the ‘Evening standard’ a prominent newspaper and 

magazine at the time, Lennon was quoted as saying “Christianity will go, it will vanish and shrink. 

We’re more popular than Jesus now” (Williamson, C. 2016: pg. 55-56). Soon after arriving back 

in the United States, after the interview had been made public and widely published “Starting in 

Mississippi, then across the American South, opportunistic DJs, clergy and others began 

organizing boycotts of Beatles music and of events for locals to burn “Beatle trash” (Williamson, 

C. 2016: pg. 56.). 1966 proved to be a prominent year for the de-platforming and exclusion of 

prominent celebrities of the time. That very same year, former professional boxer, and 

Heavyweight Champion of the World Muhammad Ali, who many believe and contend to be the 

greatest boxer of all time, was banned from participating in professional boxing and was stripped 

of all his titles and privileges. This occurred because he refused to participate in and be drafted 

into the military to fight in the Vietnam War. His famous words, "I ain't got no quarrel with no 

Viet Cong,” have resonated within political and war discourse since the day he uttered the potent 

statement (M. Ali with R. Durham, 1975: pg. 148-149.). The professional and institutional 

exclusion he faced from boxing authorities and the United States government at the time, lead to 

mass public discontent which led to further sanctions against Ali. Another example is “At the 

conclusion of 1966 The Ring magazine refused to select its usual "fighter of the year" because it 

did not want Ali "held up as an example to the youngsters of America” (Harrison, B. T. 2001: pg. 

77.). 

Fast forward to the 1990s, when a new term and fixture amongst the growing discourse around 

tolerance and progressiveness came to be utilized by citizens, communities, other groups, and 

varying organizations. Once Political Correctness became a prominent socio-political concept, it 

quickly became a kind of moral, and social normative enforcement tool and phenomenon. 

“Political correctness (PC) is a term used to refer to language that seems intended to give the least 



31 
 

amount of offence, especially when describing groups identified by external markers such 

as race, gender, culture, or sexual orientation. The concept has been discussed, disputed, criticized, 

and satirized by commentators from across the political spectrum” (Roper, C. 2020). The term 

originally became popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s amongst liberal and progressive 

politicians and politically left-leaning citizens:  

“Political correctness resulted from a confluence of other streams of liberation, 

including those of the other peoples of colour, flowing into the post-civil rights 

movement of Black Power, and subsequently the development of "African 

Americanism," i.e., the identity of African American, and the cultural movement 

of Afrocentrism. These other movements included feminism, gay liberation, and 

the movement for the interests of the handicapped. These movements joined, in an 

informal way, to generate a common political mood of victimization, moral 

indignation, and a self-righteous hostility against the common enemy--the White 

male. All of these groups felt oppressed by the ruling White male elite of American 

society or, in some cases, by Western civilization in general” (Spencer, M. E. 1994: 

pg. 559.). 

Political correctness, aside from being a result of the struggles and plight of various liberation and 

progressive movements, became a prominent socio-political fixture, because to practice being 

politically correct one would need to avoid any behaviour and abusive language which would 

offend marginalized individuals and groups. A near-perfect case of political correctness in action 

was when the British Broadcasting Company, or the BBC, “dropped the use of the terms Before 

Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD) on one of their programmes and decided that the terms ‘Before 

Common Era’ / ‘Common Era’ are more appropriate” (Hughes, R. 2011.). However, in a similar 

fashion to Cancel Culture, political correctness received heavy criticism from right-leaning 

conservatives. All over the world, not only in the United States, public spaces like universities, 

certain industries, and major corporations embraced the concept within their teaching and 

marketing. The right claimed that the culture being created by the perpetuation of political 

correctness had led to the, and will lead to further, stifling of expression, thought, academic 

freedom and speech (Fairclough, N. 2003). Laura Butterbaugh, April Jackson and Amy Branner 

believe “The attack on political correctness is nothing more than a rejection of community 



32 
 

standards of behaviour. The concept behind the rejection of politically correct is simply, "I can do 

anything I want and not feel guilty” (Butterbaugh, L. Jackson, A. and Branner, A. 1994: pg. 20). 

Although the substantial amount of criticism led to a downfall in the terms use and effectiveness, 

the term is still used within liberal and progressive spaces and is still critiqued by right-wing 

opponents, especially within the discourse of identity politics. I therefore understand political 

correctness to be linked and should be considered a not so distant relative to Cancel Culture, 

because of the way the term polices thought and expression, and has also led to consequences like 

social ostracism and a withdrawal of support in the past. Especially for those individuals and 

organizations who decided not to refrain from acting in a way which is and could be deemed 

politically offensive.  

With the birth and rise of social media within the first two decades of the 21st century, came a new 

form of online activism known as Call-Out culture. Cancel Culture and call-out culture are often 

utilized interchangeably because of their similarities, and it is difficult to uncover which of the two 

was formed or initiated first. However, when compared directly, based on the amount of literature 

on the topic and their respective levels of discourse recency, the former is more favourable to call-

out culture and the latter favouring Cancel Culture. I have deduced that call-out culture was formed 

first, especially because Cancel Culture evidently extends a step further by attempting to ensure 

some kind of penalty for unfavourable actions and behaviour follows. The entire aim of Call-out 

culture is to, mostly through social media and through a sort of mob mentality methodology, alert 

the general public to offensive and socially rejectable acts and behaviour. This is done to publicly 

shame influential and powerful individuals and organizations, so that they may begin to feel guilty 

or remorseful, so that kind of behaviour might change, in the hopes of it never happening again 

(Ahmad, A. 2015.). The behaviour which usually incites this kind of response from the public is 

commonly deemed or identified as some kind of sexist, racist, homophobic, or transphobic remark, 

or conduct. Call-out culture, as Beth Tucker puts it, is formed and moulded because: 

Social Media allows for Synoptic values to be laid out in an entirely transparent manner; 

celebrities literally have millions of ‘followers’, who actively choose to watch them as 

closely as possible (Friend or Follow, 2017). This freedom of speech of celebrities on social 

medias created room for the ‘followers’, the many, to begin to actively police the 

celebrities, the few, bringing in Panoptic values into a Synoptic situation. When a celebrity 



33 
 

says something that does not align with the image created, or with popular societal values, 

they are ‘dragged’ or ‘called-out’ on what they have said, usually by a great volume of 

people and very quickly (Tucker, B. 2018: pg. 3.). 

A prime example of call-out culture is that of Jimmy Fallon in 2020, the popular American 

television talk show host was called out on social media, and he subsequently apologized, for 

performing a comedic sketch in 2000 that was deemed racist when the video resurfaced (Yang, R. 

2020, Accessed 1 April 2021). However, dissimilar to Cancel Culture, call-out culture’s chief aim 

is to merely expose and raise awareness for the misguided and socially immoral acts and behaviour 

of powerful and wealthy individuals, brand names, and organizations. Whereas that is only an 

initial and minor part of Cancel Cultures’ entire process whilst seeking some kind of penance. 

(Placio, E. D. C., Vargas, D. S., & Estigoy, M. A. S. 2021pg. 538-540.) 

In an article published online by the New York Post, a professor of Sociology and criminology at 

Villanova University, Dr. Jill McCorkel confirms the notion that Cancel Culture finds its roots 

throughout history. Simply because human beings have continually found ways to punish 

individuals for not conforming to apparent social norms. She stated that “Cancel Culture is an 

extension of or a contemporary evolution of a much bolder set of social processes that we can see 

in the form of banishment. “They are designed to reinforce the set of norms.” (Kato, B. 2021) As 

per Vox and Aja Romano, a well-established American news website which primarily publishes 

explanatory journalistic articles, ‘cancelling’ an individual was first referenced in popular culture 

during the Wesley Snipes Movie ‘New Jack City’, where the actor’s character states “Cancel that 

[woman]. I’ll buy another one,” (Romano, 2019.). Romano also uncovered that the term only 

started gaining traction in 2014 when in an episode of a reality television show called “Love & 

Hip-Hop: New York”, one of the members of the cast said “You’re canceled” to one of his potential 

love interests (Romano, 2019). The Insider reports that the actual term ‘Cancel Culture’ had only 

one of its first uses online through the social media site Twitter, “from Myles McNutt, a TV critic 

and assistant professor at Old Dominion University, who used it in a tweet in February 2014 to 

refer to the cancellations of TV series. "It's unfortunate how to renew/Cancel Culture has made 

'not renewed early' read as canceled — 'wait and see until pilots come in' is normal," McNutt 

tweeted” (Greenspan, R. E. 2020). “McNutt was commenting specifically on TV network 



34 
 

decisions to cancel certain programs based on ratings at the time, but his choice of words may have 

indirectly planted the seed of today’s “Cancel Culture” phenomena” (Bolding, G. 2021). 

The act of cancelling and Cancel Culture itself rose to prominence throughout the Western world, 

as well as the rest of the world, with the growth and rise of both the ‘#BlackLivesMatter’ 

movement and the ‘#MeToo’ movement (Placio, E. D. C., Vargas, D. S., & Estigoy, M. A. S. 

2021: pg. 537-545.). The social activism movement came about as a response to incidents of 

unwarranted violence and killings, violent racism, and racism in general, conducted by American 

police officials. The movement then exploded in the last few years as a complete fight against 

racism as a whole all over the world ((Ng, E. 2020: pg. 623). The Mee Too movement came about 

as a result of the mass exposure of “the scope of sexual harassment and assault” occurring within 

the film industry in Hollywood (Ng, E. 2020: pg. 623). Soon after its rise in the United States, 

blew up into a global socio-collective movement dedicated to the fight against sexism, sexual 

harassment and sexual assault (Ng, E. 2020: pg. 623-624). Social media has, throughout the rise 

of the cancel movement, been a potent tool in order to hold individuals and organizations 

accountable for their misguided actions and wrongdoings. Meredith Clark appropriately amounts 

Cancel Culture as a “socially mediated phenomena,” with social media platforms like Twitter, 

Facebook and Instagram being the most popular and effective; Twitter being the most used and 

highly effective platform (Clark, M. D. 2020: pg. 89). Through platforms like Twitter “Individuals 

and groups, formerly lacking a platform to speak, are now able to be heard, share their ideas and 

mobilise themselves and others” (Bouvier, G. and Machin, D. 2021: pg. 309). What has come to 

be known as ‘Black Twitter’ is an excellent case example of the power of Twitter and social media 

activism. Black Twitter is a section, space and or type of subculture created through hashtags, 

which has become infamous for joke making, employing Cancel Culture tactics when warranted 

and as a space where people can express their anger and resentment towards social issues, 

especially racism. These hashtags ordinarily reflect, resemble and “tend to comment on black 

culture and society-at-large” (Lee, L. A. 2017: Pg. 2). Aja Romano confirms the importance of 

black culture and social activism to the establishment and effectiveness of Cancel Culture: 

“Thanks to social media, Black culture in particular has become more widely recognized 

as the dominant driving force behind much of pop culture. Platforms like Twitter give a 



35 
 

louder collective voice to Black citizens and other marginalized groups who have 

traditionally been shunted to the edges of public conversations.” (Romano, 2019.)  

It is without any doubt that Cancel Culture originated during contemporary American times, but it 

also owes its roots to American history. The civil rights boycotts of the 1950s and 1960s also have 

similar links to modern-day Cancel Culture. As “canceling someone is akin to a boycott, but of a 

person rather than a business.” (Romano, 2019) Although the majority of high-profile cases of 

cancelling have been celebrities, politicians and businesses or organizations. The concept and 

utilization of Cancel Culture has also spread rapidly to college and higher education campuses in 

the United States. Where students, their various representative bodies and other kinds of student 

organizations turned to Cancel Culture, social media, and their institutional disciplinary 

mechanisms in order to Call-out and cancel members of staff for objectionable and or offensive 

behaviour. Cancel cases on college campuses in America, similarly to most conventional cancel 

cases, were “surrounding issues of racism and ethnicity, sexual harassment and misogyny, non-

binary gender identities and transphobia.” (Norris, 2020: pg. 2) Cancel Culture in and amongst 

American colleges also employ “harsh measures, including even outright exile from the university 

community via expulsion (of students) or firing (of faculty or staff members).” (Strossen, N. 2020: 

pg. 1) In Mark Rom and Kristina Mitchell’s journal article “Teaching Politics in a Call-Out and 

Cancel Culture,” they discuss a “Professor Watchlist” which contains the names of over three 

hundred college professors who have discriminated against conservative students to expose and 

document these incidents. (Rom, M. C. and Mitchell, K. 2021: pg. 610) The fact that in this case, 

right-wing conservatives were attempting to expose and punish progressive and liberal professors, 

proves that Cancel Culture is also a socio-political ideological battlefield.  

From America to the world 

The United States of America has been a catalyst for the proliferation of popular culture all over 

the world. Just like American-produced movies and music genres such as Rap and R&B, Cancel 

Culture has become the United States’ latest cultural export to the world. With the popularity of 

social media and American pop culture, “Datareportal’s” ‘Digital 2022: Global Overview Report’ 

reveals some interesting insights into how social media has impacted the world. The report utilizes 

8 different data partners to collect and decipher the data necessary for the report. Using this report, 

it is simple to understand how and why Cancel Culture has spread so rapidly around the world, 



36 
 

including South Africa. According to the report, 4.62 billion people are active social media users, 

which equates to 58.4% of the entire world’s population. Narrowing it down to the far corners of 

the world, to get an idea of the expansive hold social media has over the entire globe, 79% of South 

Americans, 69% of East Asians, 85% of Northern Europeans, 70% of Eastern Europeans, 66% of 

people living in the Oceanic region, and finally 45% of Southern Africans are active social media 

users. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are three of the most recognized and popular social media 

platforms, all three of which are active news shearers. Whom all maintain an interactive interface 

between users, hence their propensity for Cancel Culture, and have a user base of 2.91 billion, 

1.478 billion and 436 million, respectively (Kemp, S. 2021). 

Considering Cancel Culture’s proficiency in the utilization of social media in order to expose and 

hold individuals and organizations accountable for immoral and dubious conduct, as well as the 

statistics mentioned above, one can understand how Cancel Culture and all that goes with it has 

reached the shores of other continents around the world. Great Britain, especially the liberal and 

progressive left, has embraced Cancel Culture and has also become a cancelling hub. British 

journalist and infamous broadcaster Piers Morgan was cancelled in 2021 after he made ill-received 

comments on the television show “Good Morning Britain” about Megan Markle’s suicidal 

feelings. He resigned from the show after being lambasted on social media by mental health 

advocates and many celebrities (Walsh, G. 2022). Famed Harry Potter Series Author J.K Rowling 

has supposedly been cancelled a few times after alleged insensitive comments made in public or 

on social media. She was more notably cancelled or more recently labelled as cancelled after a 

series of tweets that she published on Twitter were labelled as transphobic by LGBTQ+ advocacy 

groups (Walsh, G. 2022). Another fairly recent example is the attempted cancellation of English 

comedian Jimmy Carr, who during a television comedy special, made a joke about the holocaust 

which was received as insensitive, antisemitic and pro-genocide. Carr has been slammed on social 

media and other platforms by charities, celebrities and politicians, a petition was also released for 

signatures to have the special removed from major streaming platform Netflix (Walsh, G. 2022). 

The allure of Cancel Culture and its uncanny ability to give a voice to those who feel unheard and 

marginalized by powerful individuals, institutions and organizations. This is one of the chief 

reasons why Cancel Culture has been able to proliferate to all corners of the world, not only in the 

West. In South America, more specifically Columbia, the legacy of Christopher Columbus is under 



37 
 

siege by Indigenous activists and organizations. Activists consider him to be a representation and 

constant reminder of imperialism, oppression, and colonialism, rather than the conventional label 

of Columbus as a pioneer of exploration. Activists continue to shun and boycott his legacy and in 

2021, in a well-documented event, protestors vandalized and toppled a statue of Columbus in the 

city of Barranquilla, whilst similar events have occurred in both Chile and Mexico (Misra, A. 

2021). In Asia, Chinese consumers in 2019 boycotted Dolce & Gabbana foods because their 

advertising was interpreted by the public as a mockery of the pronunciation of Chinese speech. 

Dolce & Gabbana were forced to give out refunds and were forced to remove their products from 

two of China’s largest e-commerce sites (Goh, Z. J. D. 2020). In Singapore, a high-profile social 

media influencer and blogger, who goes by the name Xiaxue, was cancelled for the comments she 

had made over time regarding foreign workers and people living with obesity. The cancel 

campaign against her has led to the loss of income as she had numerous endorsements and 

partnerships cancelled (Yadav, S. A. 2020).  

Cancel Culture has also found its way to the Oceania region, in 2019 Australian right-wing 

politician Fraser Anning was voted into censorship within the Australian senate by both left and 

right-wing politicians. This occurred dramatically after the public outcry he received for his 

comments on the Christchurch Mosque shootings in New Zealand, blaming the incident on 

immigration policies (Kelly, C. 2019). In Germany, the pop star and singer of “99 red balloons” 

had two of her concerts/ performances in 2021 cancelled after she made negative comments during 

her performances about the German government’s Covid-19 restriction regulations, where she 

encouraged fans to ignore hygiene and social distancing, whilst simultaneously maintaining 

affiliations with known conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine advocates (Kirschbaum, E. 2021). 

Just like the rest of the world, Cancel Culture has also been embraced and has flourished in Africa, 

more particularly in South Africa, with a multitude of celebrities being cancelled for immoral, 

questionable and illicit behaviour. Some South African celebrities have had their careers 

effectively put to an end or practically irreparably damaged after allegations of rape or sexual 

assault. Some of which include rapper and recording artist Simiso Zwane better known as 

Okmalumkoolkat, recording artist Jabulani Hadebe better known as ‘Sjava’, Disk Jockey Themba 

Nkosi better known as Euphonik and another well-known South African DJ and radio host Thato 

Sikwane better known as DJ Fresh. Although the latter three cases have had their cases thrown out 

by the National Prosecuting Authority (Junior, L. 2021). Other prominent social and political 



38 
 

figures have also in a way been cancelled, de-platformed, or ostracized. Former vice-chancellor of 

the University of the Witwatersrand and current director of the School of Oriental and African 

Studies at the University of London Adam Habib. Landed himself in hot water after he received a 

hefty amount of backlash and was suspended from his position at SOAS after using the N-word 

during a virtual meeting with students and other staff members (Mlambo, S. 2021). Hellen Zille, a 

prominent and controversial South African political figure and former Premier of the Western 

Cape and Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance. Has on multiple occasions been effectively 

cancelled or at least labelled as cancelled for her divisive opinions, statements, and comments on 

social media, which are commonly labelled as racist and politically incorrect (Nkanjeni, U. 2019). 

Three of the above examples of Cancel Culture in South Africa will be utilized as case studies in 

the chapters to come and more factors and details will be revealed, those are the cancellations of 

Adam Habib, Hellen Zille and Simiso Zwane or Okmalumkoolkat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Chapter 2: The Politics of Cancel Culture: 

“Cancel Culture’s labelling can be seen as symptomatic of an era where people present themselves 

using a few carefully chosen words, and choose their allies and enemies based on the same” 

(Janner-Klausner, R. L., & Deller, A. 2021: pg. 32). It is for this core reason why, to truly 

understand, analyze and decipher the nature and origins of Cancel Culture, we need to breakdown 

and understand the politics and political nature of Cancel Culture. This Chapter is dedicated to 

comprehending and explicating the world’s socio-political relationship with Cancel Culture. It also 

aims to understand and rationalize the World’s utilization of Cancel Culture through various 

ideologies and political theories such as Liberalism, Conservatism, Capitalism, right and left-wing 

politics, Identity Politics and more. This will be accomplished through the examination and the 

dissection of, observing through a political ideological lens, several Cancel Culture case studies 

from America and Great Britain. Two leading and powerful nations which have the greatest 

number of concrete and well-published examples.  

Cancel Culture and Left-Wing, Progressive Liberalism  

First off let us break down these three political ideological terms which play such a significant role 

in this section of chapter two. All three of these socio-political concepts, Liberalism, Progressive, 

and Left-Wing, are interconnected and can even be said to maintain a kind of codependency. 

Certainly, in Western nations where if you have pronounced yourself as a liberal you would 

automatically be assumed to be both progressive and left-wing, and vice versa for the other two 

concepts. Modern-day Liberalism represents a desire for a society which is free from 

totalitarianism, oppression and inequality, contemporary liberals desire to live in a society based 

on the principles of justice, welfare, fairness, and equality. Slightly different from conventional 

Liberalism, like the theories of John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls, which advocate for 

individualism, the right to life through freedom, liberty, the ownership of property and minimal 

state interference (Courtland, S. D., Gaus, G. and Schmidtz, D. 2022.). “For me, the central use of 

the term "progressive" lies in describing public policies aimed at improving the material conditions 

of those existing under material conditions of existence that place them in positions of reasonably 

severe deprivation” (Tushnet, M. 2011: pg. 1073.). Being progressive in the 21st century means 

that advocating for liberalism is not enough, progressives are relentless in their pursuit of equality 

of rights and opportunity, in particular racial and gender equality. They are both pro-poor and pro-



40 
 

welfare states, via their advocacy for increased tax levels for the wealthy and powerful 

corporations, as well as increased wages and increased state welfare support (Pew Research 

Center, 2021.). 

“It is important to clarify that Cancel Culture not only focuses on the mode of justice 

against racial discrimination but any type of taboo against minorities. Throughout the 

years, American society has emphasized the so-called social justice, and most of the 

definition and representatives for this cause come from the left-wing and progressist on the 

government. They would define social justice as a fight against systemic oppression by the 

dominant over the oppressed, which employs coalition-building and seeks changes in basic 

societal structures” (Garcia, D. 2021: pg. 4). 

Lastly, in this context as well as the circumstances of contemporary Western political landscapes, 

those individuals who lean to the left of the political spectrum usually conform to and advocate for 

both liberal and progressive politics. Whether you are in the United States or Great Britain, two 

countries that use this label on a grand scale, you will be labelled a leftist if you are well-versed 

and a strong advocate for liberal rhetoric and application. There is another noticeable and 

provocative political branding that has been widely used that place all of the above under one scope 

and that is ‘woke politics’ or ‘wokeism’. Wokeism is “an ideology that views reality as socially 

constructed and defined by power, oppression and group identity” (Beiner, A. 2020). 

“The idea of Cancel Culture hides behind its duty and desire to fight inequality and injustice” 

(Garcia, D. 2021: pg. 3). One can easily assume that Cancel Culture is a potent instrument for the 

left because it notably targets issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, sexual assault, transphobia, 

and other socio-political issues. Taking into consideration that these groups are customarily and 

frequently seeking various modes of justice and equality because of existing and historical 

prejudice, discrimination, and injustice. Unsurprisingly, the individuals who form these groups 

and participate in cancellations are generally progressive liberals. Suntosh Pillay explains how 

some Twitter hashtag movements which have all utilized Cancel Culture strategies and campaigns, 

have been effective against various forms of oppression. “#BlackLivesMatter challenges White 

supremacy, #MeToo challenges toxic patriarchy, #FeesMustFall challenges educational 

commodification, #TakeAKnee challenges police brutality, #SayHerName challenges police 



41 
 

brutality specifically against Black women in the United States, and #RhodesMustFall challenges 

coloniality” (Pillay, S. R. 2020: pg. 309.). 

Joseph Velasco, utilizing the theories of Neil Alperstein, writes on how when the thoughts, 

arguments and, ideas of various individuals on social media are aligned or coincide with one 

another, a “virtual collective consciousness” is formed between those individuals (Velasco, J. C. 

2020: pg. 2). This infers that “it bears a similarity to an echo chamber, where similarly minded 

individuals only hear what they wish to hear. Anything that might be contrary to their line of 

thinking and preferences is deemed undesirable” (Velasco, 2020: pg. 2). The Cancel Culture of the 

‘woke’ or progressive left is no different to this, Black Twitter, the #BlackLivesMatter movement 

and the #MeToo movement are three perfect examples. Firstly, Black Twitter, as discussed in 

Chapter 1, could be credited with being the founders of Cancel Culture. Secondly, both Black 

Twitter and #BlackLivesMatter have accounted for multiple celebrity and political callouts which 

then proceeded into attempted cancelling. American Rap artist Kanye West was cancelled in 2019 

after he was caught stating that “slavery was a choice” and that Bill Cosby was apparently innocent 

of all the sexual misconduct, sexual assault allegations and legal charges laid against him 

(Grootboom, J 2018.) (Kelly, 2019.).  After years and years of sexual assault and sexual immorality 

allegations, in 2017 R&B recording artist R-Kelly was cancelled after the cancel campaigns on 

social media had the singer banned from performing and collaborating with other artists 

(Grootboom, J 2018.) (Kelly, 2019.). Although the #BlackLivesMatter movement began in 2013 

as a reaction to police brutality and unwarranted killings of African American citizens. The 

movement intensified on an almost unprecedented scale after the police killing of George Floyd, 

an African American citizen who died whilst being detained by United States police officers. In 

the wake of George Floyd’s death, the #BlackLivesMatter movement and its supporters took to 

social media. Using several platforms, primarily Twitter, to hold those individuals and 

organizations accountable for either racist or insensitive and immoral conduct directed towards the 

movement (Hain, P. and Odendaal, A. 2020). During the height of the protests in 2020, a video 

surfaced where Doja Cat, a hip-hop recording star, was seen in an online chatroom with white men 

who were using all kinds of racial slurs including the ‘n-word’, she was subsequently cancelled on 

Twitter by many of her fans and #BlackLivesMatter supporters (Arroyo, K. 2020). Another two 

noticeable examples were when after continuous pleas, petitions and threats of boycotts. The 

company behind the two food products named “Aunt Jemima” and “Uncle Ben” were near forced 



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into changing the names of the two products in 2020 because of the racist undertones of the original 

names (Los Angeles Magazine, 2020). 

Following an expose by several actresses who exposed one of Hollywood’s principals and most 

powerful producers, Harvey Weinstein, as a prolific and sordid sexual offender. A social media 

campaign targeted at powerful and wealthy sexual predators exploded on social media, especially 

on Twitter and Instagram. The hashtag #Metoo allowed all kinds of victims, from various 

backgrounds not only actresses, of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of individuals normally 

perceived as legally untouchable, to be able to come forward and expose those individuals and 

have them held accountable (Murphy, M. 2019.). The #MeToo movement helped expose and 

cancel the likes of Actor Bill Cosby, comedian Louis CK and R. Kelly for their sexual abuse and 

misconduct against women in their industries. Although the Me-Too movement is fundamentally 

a women’s movement and essentially a feminist cause, the movement still maintains modern 

liberal and left-wing principles; of seeking out justice and equality. As the movement’s “strategy 

can be justified as an effective tool for achieving social justice by victims unable to obtain legal 

redress or public apology” or accountability (Norris, 2020: pg.2).  

Another ideological level which must be examined, an area of great concern for right-leaning 

conservatives, especially in the United States and Britain, is the Cancel Culture which seems to be 

intensifying at a constant rate on College and University campuses. Academics like Pippa Norris 

believe there is a “liberal hegemony” at all levels on college campuses across the United States 

(Norris, 2020: pg. 4). Which refers to the fact that the majority of students, staff, professors, 

academics, upper management, board members and investors, albeit not a vast majority, generally 

classify themselves as liberals and progressives. In his book titled “Cancel Culture: The Latest 

Attack on Free Speech and Due Process” Alan Dershowitz also confirms this academic liberal 

hegemony: 

“Many of the current zealots are young students and faculty—men and women alike—who 

may well become our future leaders. For the first time in my lifetime, academic 

“justifications” have been offered by hard-left American professors for restrictions on free 

speech and due process, labelling these fundamental rights as weapons of “privilege,” 

deployed against the unprivileged” (Dershowitz, A. M. 2020: pg. 23).     



43 
 

The prevailing belief is that the balance of opinions on college and university campuses has 

become increasingly liberal. Especially towards issues like racial equality and inclusion, LGBTQ+ 

rights and equality, gender equity, religious tolerance, ethnic diversity, modernization as well as 

secularization. According to David Acevedo as well as The National Association of Scholars based 

in the United States, who have tracked the cancellations of over 210 academics and professors in 

both the United States and Canada, all of which resembled the typical Cancel Culture modus 

operandi (Acevedo, D. 2022). The majority of these cancellations came about after a student or 

members of staff said or wrote something controversial. Which was then regarded as offensive or 

immoral, after which faculty, students and student representative organizations demand various 

forms of institutional discipline. Lastly, university and college management or administrators 

punish the accused in various ways, sometimes causing reputational damage and even terminating 

their employment (Kaufman, E. 2020). 

Moving on to how the socio-political landscape has impacted how and by whom Cancel Culture 

has been received and utilized in England and Great Britain as a whole. Cancel Culture landed in 

America’s former colonial authority not long after it took off on home soil. Similar to all of 

America’s cultural exports, British people swiftly took to the concept and progressive liberals 

began to employ the concept and all its methods. As discussed earlier, three excellent examples of 

British Cancel Culture are those of J. K. Rowling, for the transphobic comments she made. Piers 

Morgan, for his routinely controversial views and the comments he made on the mental health of 

Megan Markle. Lastly Jimmy Carr, for his controversial and antisemitic jokes in his latest 

television comedy special. All three of these cases of Cancel Culture were all labelled as left-wing 

attacks on free speech, as the majority of individuals and groups who protested the boycotting of 

these controversial figures were aligned with modern liberal and progressive ideals (Walsh, 2022). 

Britain in a similar mould to that in the United States, is also experiencing issues at universities 

with Cancel Culture as one of the main conceptual obstacles in the way of balancing the ideological 

and political scales at tertiary institutions. “UK universities face growing threats to academic 

freedom. This called attention to ‘structural discrimination’, with progressive social norms arising 

from the predominance of left-wing scholars, generating a chilly of intolerance for the small 

minority challenging these views” (Norris, 2020: pg. 5). Similarly, to college campuses in 

America, this liberal hegemony within British Universities has led to examples of intellectual 



44 
 

repression, ideological uniformity, the de-platforming of intellectuals, irreparable reputational 

damage as well as termination of employment (Kaufmann, 2020). Cancel Culture in the United 

Kingdom can be said to have been the catalyst and the final instrument required, which ignited the 

campaigns against the legacies and memorialization of British historical figures. Who in recent 

times have been commonly found and discovered to be racist and immense contributors to the 

enslavement, oppression, subjugation, colonization, and murder of others. Cecil Rhodes, Edward 

Colston and Winston Churchill are all three historically and traditionally revered for their socio-

political and socio-economic exploits done in the name of the British Empire. Have had their 

memorial statues vandalized and even torn down by protestors for their contributions to slavery, 

colonialism, and imperialism (Colomer, L. 2020.). Since the onset of Cancel Culture in Britain all 

three of these legacies and their respective commemorative statues or landmarks, although have 

been under fire for quite some time. Have recently faced increased pressure for social and public 

tarnishing, the exposure of their immoral deeds and exploits and for public removal. Especially 

because of the Black Lives Matter movement, as all three figures, their statues and legacies were 

vandalized during the protests in the UK. Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol was even pulled down 

and pushed into the ocean by protestors because he was a 17th-century slave trader (Colomer, 2020: 

pg. 1). It seems as though liberal and progressive activists from both Britain and America are 

seeking to erase systemic racism and white supremacy through the cancelling and erasure of 

infamous Western history, especially within tertiary institutions and college campuses.   

Right-Wing, Conservative Politics and a Somewhat Hypocritical Critique of Cancel Culture 

Similar to the section above, this subsection will begin with a definition of the socio-political terms 

above. This is necessary to be able to begin to comprehend how right-wing conservative politics 

has impacted Cancel Culture and how conservatives have either utilized or critiqued the concept 

and its impact on the world. In a similar codependent relationship between that of liberalism, 

progressivism and left-wing politics. In today’s modern world, it would be unsurprising that if 

someone considers themselves to be conservative, they would automatically be assumed to be 

right-wing leaning, and vice versa. Modern-day right-wingers and conservatives typically defend 

forms of traditionalism, which in lemans terms refers to the advocacy for past or current modes of 

governance and living. Modes that these individuals believe to be the only effective forms of 

government; and they also especially oppose liberal democracy (Hamilton, Andy. 2019). 



45 
 

Individuals and groups which align themselves with the right side of the political spectrum, 

especially in the United States and Britain as conservatives. Strongly believe that limited 

government, a laissez-faire economic system, and lower tax rates especially for the rich and 

businesses will lead to economic prosperity. However, they also seem to believe that inequality is 

perpetually inevitable and will always be a societal reality. According to the ‘Stanford 

Encyclopedia of Philosophy’, Conservatism is “a response to the challenges of modernity” 

(Hamilton, 2019). Conservatives, similar to liberals, adore and defend the principle of liberty, 

however, their version of liberty is not based on rights and equality but on civil liberties allowed 

by lesser government interference (Hamilton, 2019.). 

Cancel Culture’s greatest ideological and theoretical opposition appears to be originating from the 

right-leaning conservatives in the Western world, but especially in the United States. As Gwen 

Bouvier and David Machin point out, “many critics of Cancel Culture sit to the political right, 

describing it as a kind of political correctness, or identity politics gone made, carrying undertones 

of what they see as a dangerous cultural Marxism intent on bringing down Western Civilization” 

Bouvier and Machin, 2021: pg. 308.). What at first glance seems like a form of hyper-criticism, 

once we narrow down the central points of their extensive and ever-expanding arguments against 

Cancel Culture, there may be some merit to their protests. Many conservatives strongly maintain 

that political correctness, call-out culture and especially Cancel Culture itself have caused growing 

levels of ideological conformity, academic exclusion, ideological segregation, self-censorship as 

well as stifling freedom of speech and expression (Norris, 2020: pg. 3.). Alan Dershowitz, a 

prominent legal scholar in the United States believes that when the left justifies this form of 

censorship “It argues for cancellation and censorship only of right-wing, conservative, anti-left 

speech, while demanding total freedom of speech for comparable advocacy, even if 

hateful, directed against conservatives, right-wingers, and people of privilege. The identity of the 

speaker is as important as the content of the speech, though both are related” (Dershowitz, 2020: 

pg. 53.). 

One of the right’s chief concerns regarding Cancel Culture is the effect it has had on America’s 

college campuses. Cancel Culture has proven to be a prominent fixture amongst America’s 

predominantly liberal tertiary institutions. Not only are the rights to freedom of speech and 

expression at risk but from the hegemonic liberal positioning that Cancel Culture holds over 



46 
 

scholars, admin and students. The concept and restriction of academic or intellectual freedom is 

another grave concern for the conservative right. Academic freedom refers to the non-

constitutional/ legal right to “seek the truth, wherever the investigation may lead,” essentially “an 

eternal spiritual search for the truth” (Schalin, J. 2016: pg. pg. 5, 9.). As we have seen by the 

n