Surviving linguistic violence: The role of equality, diversity and inclusion in reactionary times

In recent years, the term ‘woke’ has increasingly become controversial in Dutch public discourse, where cultural protectionism, anti-multiculturalism, anti-immigration, and anti-gender narratives have been amplified by the far right. Particularly within academia, ‘woke’ is increasingly used to discredit social justice efforts and institutional diversity initiatives. This paper examines how ‘woke’ is discursively constructed in Dutch academia. Drawing on Judith Butler’s notion of linguistic injury and using a critical discourse analysis of media excerpts and institutional speech acts, we show how ‘woke’ in Dutch academia operates through three interrelated mechanisms: (i) delegitimization of woke ideas and movements, (ii) constitution of illegitimate subjects, and (iii) translation of speech into harmful conduct. At the same time, we offer a critical reflection on the non-performativity of existing EDI frameworks, which, we argue, tend to avoid engaging with the very politics they are meant to address thereby offering little meaningful resistance and becoming structurally ineffective and rhetorically complicit in reactionary discourse. In response, we propose three counterstrategies or acts of resistance: (i) reclaiming woke through counter-language and refusal, (ii) challenging essentialist views in EDI and (iii) redefining academic freedom as a collective responsibility.