The term "intellectual dark web" was coined as a joke by mathematician and venture capitalist Eric Weinstein and popularized by New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss. It has been used to refer to various academics and social commentators who express concerns over the perceived excesses of left-wing identity politics and political correctness. Media studies scholar John Postill argues that Weiss's essay, titled "Meet the Renegades", was a "defining media event" that offered an identity and cast of characters for the "anti-woke movement" to follow.
The IDW comprises an ideologically diverse network of commentators who share an opposition to left-wing identity politics and political correctness. Other issues of concern include postmodernism and "cultural Marxism", which are perceived as contributing to moral relativism and the suppression of free speech.
Some IDW members describe themselves as liberals in opposition to what they perceive as the excesses and indifference of the American Left, while others lean to the right. Those who have been linked to the IDW are generally critical of what they perceive as "conformist" liberals, and some have been associated with the alt-lite and the alt-right. Political scientist Daniel W. Drezner argues that the IDW contributes to polarization because of its need to appeal to a primarily right-wing audience, despite the political leanings of individual members. The Guardian characterized the IDW as "strange bedfellows" that comprise the "supposed thinking wing of the alt-right".
Criticism of the IDW has come primarily from the left and support from the right. Jonah Goldberg, writing in the National Review, said the "label is a bit overwrought", writing that it struck him "as a marketing label – and not necessarily a good one. ... It seems to me this IDW thing isn't actually an intellectual movement. It's just a coalition of thinkers and journalists who happen to share a disdain for the keepers of the liberal orthodoxy." Henry Farrell, writing in Vox, expressed disbelief that conservative commentator Ben Shapiro or neuroscientist Sam Harris, both claimed to be among the intellectual dark web by Weiss, could credibly be described as either purged or silenced. Weiss' fellow New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argued there was an irony in claiming popular intellectual oppression by the mainstream while still publishing in the Times, among the most prominent newspapers in the nation. Weiss did not herself claim to be part of the IDW, and she would depart the Times almost exactly one year later over the same issues central to the figures in it. David French contended many of the critics were missing the point, and were instead inadvertently confirming "the need for a movement of intellectual free-thinkers."
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Sheedy (2022), pp. 89–90: "For some IDW figures, the influence of postmodernism and 'cultural Marxism' is said to be particularly dangerous, contributing to moral relativism, political correctness, and the stifling of free speech." - Sheedy, Matt (2022). Owning the Secular: Religious Symbols, Culture Wars, Western Fragility. Routledge Focus on Religion. London: Routledge. pp. 89–90. doi:10.4324/9781003031239. ISBN 978-0-367-46802-6. https://doi.org/10.4324%2F9781003031239
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Kelsey, Darren (2020). "Archetypal Populism: The 'Intellectual Dark Web' and the 'Peterson Paradox'". In Kranert, Michael (ed.). Discursive Approaches to Populism Across Disciplines: The Return of Populists and the People. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 174. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-55038-7_7. ISBN 978-3-030-55038-7. 978-3-030-55038-7
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Sheedy, Matt (2022). Owning the Secular: Religious Symbols, Culture Wars, Western Fragility. Routledge Focus on Religion. London: Routledge. pp. 89–90. doi:10.4324/9781003031239. ISBN 978-0-367-46802-6. 978-0-367-46802-6
Sheedy, Matt (2022). Owning the Secular: Religious Symbols, Culture Wars, Western Fragility. Routledge Focus on Religion. London: Routledge. pp. 89–90. doi:10.4324/9781003031239. ISBN 978-0-367-46802-6. 978-0-367-46802-6
Sheedy, Matt (2022). Owning the Secular: Religious Symbols, Culture Wars, Western Fragility. Routledge Focus on Religion. London: Routledge. pp. 89–90. doi:10.4324/9781003031239. ISBN 978-0-367-46802-6. 978-0-367-46802-6
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