Since I made a (slightly sarcastic) ‘Cultural Marxist’ satirical confessional video, I’ve seen a small dribble of lost Likes, Follows and Subs across Archaeosoup’s Social Media (about 20 people so far), accompanied by what I refer to as various ‘loud leaving’ comments and messages.
These are typically insults and pearl clutching comments along the lines of:
‘I thought this was a serious history channel.’
‘I didn’t subscribe to be preached at!’
‘History is facts, stick to the facts!’
and my favourite thus far
‘Not more mention of Mali as some sort of Wakanda. You’ve been reading too many YouTube comments, do some REAL research and talk about actual historical civilizations’ !?!
This may be a hilariously redundant statement, but I’m getting an increasingly strong impression that people with ugly ideas about race, nationhood and ancestry see archaeology/ history social media as essentially safe spaces. Of course, particular eras and areas of historical interest have seen a problematic influx of pseudo and revisionist right-wing interpretations for some time. However, the osmosis has continued through into more general historical and archaeological social media forums and pages.
Speaking for Archaeosoup, we have definitely seen a notable increase in comments and arguments which range from bizarrely a-historical nationalism to truly hateful (and sweary) assertions, in a community which has hitherto been relatively friendly, civilized, curious and welcoming.
Recently, I have come to the conclusion that so long as Archaeologists’ and Historians’ opposition of hateful misconceptions about the past is not explicit, such fools tend to presume they’re among friends!
Such people fall in to feeling ‘at home’ because history for them is ‘unchanging’. History is a realm whence nations were ‘purer’, people stayed in their homelands and life was generally less complex and challenging… yet this couldn’t be further from the case!
As I reflect upon those aforementioned ‘loud leavers’, trickling away from Archaeosoup’s social media and into the ether of the internet; it is interesting to me how seemingly complicit (or perhaps un-challenging) I appeared to be to those people. Those whom (presumably) were not looking too closely, saw me and Archaeosoup as a ‘safe space’.
To such people, I am a stereotypical archaeologist with a beard. A friendly, jolly, white fella who has been to University and likes to share ‘fun little factoids’ about the past on YouTube. Such people just want ‘nice‘ and ‘established’ stories which re-enforce their preconceptions about the past. Whereas I want to learn! And to challenge those ideas which are actively eroding peoples’ ability to learn… Such as ‘Cultural Marxism’.
In the past few years, the number of brief and un-qualified comments on Archaeosoup videos such as:
‘This is a Cultural Marxist (and/ or Feminist/ Leftist) video and therefore should be ignored’
(though rarely in such friendly or focused language) has sky-rocketed!
A couple of days ago, I cracked.
I threw out the day’s schedule and unleashed years of irritation in a sarcastic, surrealist ‘confessional’ video which never-the-less aimed to answer an increasingly frequently asked question from archaeology and history students: ‘What is Cultural Marxism?’ and ‘Is Cultural Marxism real?’ Such FAQs are alarming.
Those who profess to believe in the existence of Cultural Marxism (when it is not being used merely as a lazy catch-all for academia, feminism, human rights and inclusivity) claim that it is a Marxist (and via Karl Marx’s ancestry, a Jewish) philosophy, rather than an extension of White Supremacist propaganda.
Just as a simplistic characterization of socialist economics is ‘Taking from the rich, to give to the poor’, Cultural Marxism is conceived of as ‘Taking from the powerful and culturally rich (white people) to give to the culturally powerless and poor (none-white and ‘degenerate’ other people).
This despicable ideological transposition of Marxism into the realm of a sort of cultural capital, is only possible if one first believes that a richer (or apparently superior) ‘race’ has some cultural capital to lose! Or rather ‘cultural currency’ for ‘Cultural Marxists’ to redistribute and reassign; debasing the currency and bringing everyone ‘down’ to the same level! Cultural Marxism therefore absolutely has white supremacist underpinnings. It is a projection, on to ‘the other’, the enemy, moulded by and built upon the world view of white supremacists. Indeed the precursor Cultural Marxism was a Third Reich invention, ‘Kulturbolschewismus’ (Cultural Bolshevism). It is an extreme right-wing conspiracy theory and it is the role of serious archaeologists and historians to challenge it.
We (archaeologists) should not be a passive online presence. We should avoid slipping into the warm water of becoming a sort of digital National Trust ‘big house’ or a Cadw Castle visit in Wales. To be clear, the conversations we seek to have should of course be actively fun and educational, but crucially, at times, confrontational! A cup of tea at a castle may be pleasant, but that is not history. Statues may be impressive and a reassuringly ‘permanent’ presence in the community, but they are not history. Welcoming and accessible, public-facing, archaeologists shouldn’t be mistaken as complicit in whatever ahistorical narrative people want to quietly bring to the picnic!
Infact, (to their credit) recently, the National Trust has ‘stepped up’ it’s efforts to re-assess the history of its properties and their relationship to the history of slavery.
That place of nagging cultural discomfort with the otherness of history is precisely where archaeologists live (or at least where they should be living)! Challenging discoveries, new nuanced ideas, delightful and unexpected surprises are the stuff of Archaeology – And it’s gloriously complicated and messy!
We shouldn’t be in the business of merely confirming a bland timeline and certainly not just re-enforcing that you’re a ‘true Celt’ or how awesome and manly battle is!
So… Just as with John Connor’s concept of the future, history is not fixed. Indeed it is the crucial cultural backdrop to all human life! It is the place where inspiration, knowledge, identity, stories and pride are derived and cultivated. Therefore whether our history is openly observable, partially obscured or even altered, will have an effect on life today… And thus it is also a battle ground!
And on that battle ground, we need to deprive folks of comfortable fox holes to quietly continue to twist our human story to their own despicable ends. Give no ground. Make no apology for being opposed to pseudo and anti-intellectualism.
Archaeosoup is approaching a modest, but important milestone on YouTube of 20,000 subscribers. I genuinely adore the community of ‘Soupians we have garnered over the past decade and hopefully shaking this conceptual tree a little means we’ll cross that line with genuinely curious, interesting and lovely people along for the ride!
– Mr Soup
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