A New Moral Worldview
Oppressionism is a moral worldview that took shape in the decades following the Cold War. It represents a profound ideological shift within liberal societies, one that remained unnamed for much of its early life. At its core lies a single moral binary: the conviction that society is divided between oppressors and oppressed, and that justice requires the active reversal of this relationship. The framework is not traditional Marxism and not simply “wokeism,” but a distinct moral system that inherited Marxism’s language of virtue and guilt while replacing its economic foundation of class with cultural and identity-based hierarchies.
The Moral Arena
Unlike earlier ideologies that sought revolution through political or economic power, Oppressionism advances through moral influence. Its arena is the realm of culture, language, and institutions, and its currency is moral legitimacy. It does not seek to seize the state but to redefine the moral code by which the state, and society itself, operate. Its victories are measured not in laws passed or regimes overthrown, but in the quiet transformation of norms, expectations, and the moral vocabulary of everyday life.
A Decentralized Movement
Oppressionism does not behave like a traditional political movement. It has no manifesto, party, or central leadership. Instead, it functions as a diffuse moral force that moves through established institutions rather than confronting them directly. Universities, cultural industries, and bureaucracies became its primary vehicles. Through what Antonio Gramsci described as a “war of position,” it advances from within, reshaping the moral assumptions of liberal democracy while appearing to continue its mission. It speaks the familiar language of rights, equality, and justice, yet subtly alters their meaning. Justice becomes equity, defined by equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity. Freedom becomes safety, defined as protection from harm rather than freedom from coercion.
The Illusion of Continuity
Because Oppressionism remained unnamed, it was rarely recognized as an ideology at all. Many regarded its spread as the natural evolution of liberal progress or the final fulfilment of Enlightenment ideals. Yet beneath this continuity lay a new moral order. By replacing class with identity, categories such as race, gender and sexuality, it established a new hierarchy of virtue and victimhood. Its influence spread through media, education, corporate governance and policy, embedding itself in handbooks, codes of conduct and institutional language.
The Moral Ecosystem
In practice, Oppressionism operates less like a movement than a moral ecosystem. It reproduces itself through imitation and reinforcement, as individuals and institutions adopt its principles to avoid moral exclusion. Its strength lies in this decentralisation, in the sense that no one appears to be leading it, yet everyone seems compelled to act in accordance with it. The result is a society where neutrality is condemned as complicity and dissent is treated as moral failure, a transformation that replaces the liberal pursuit of tolerance with the demand for moral conformity.