The culture wars of the early 1990s may have started in America’s ivory towers, but today they are shaping elections and provoking a broad political response. That’s the argument made by political scientist and author Eric Kaufmann, who joined Dan Proft and Jeanne Ives on Chicago’s Morning Answer this week to discuss his new book, The Third Awokening: A 12-Point Plan for Rolling Back Progressive Extremism.
Kaufmann, a professor at the University of Buckingham in England, warned that the ideologies once confined to college campuses have now gone mainstream—triggering a national reckoning.
“When speech codes and political correctness first took hold in the 1990s, it was largely contained to universities,” Kaufmann said. “Now, it’s everywhere—corporate HR departments, media, government agencies. That initial success for the woke movement has now backfired because voters are more aware and increasingly fed up.”
His book outlines a comprehensive strategy for countering what he describes as progressive overreach. Rather than focusing on individual grievances or isolated culture war battles, Kaufmann proposes structural reforms to education, civil rights law, and public institutions that he says have been captured by ideologues.
From Campus to Ballot Box
Kaufmann believes the politicization of everyday life—from job training seminars to school curricula—has made these cultural issues more relevant to ordinary voters. He says this trend is creating new political opportunities for candidates who are willing to take on the hard left.
“In the past, these were niche debates,” he said. “Now they’re deciding elections.”
That shift is already visible in polling, where concerns over free speech, gender ideology, and race-based policies have begun to rival traditional economic issues in importance for many voters.
A Plan for Reform
Kaufmann’s 12-point plan includes measures such as redefining the boundaries of civil rights law to better protect free speech, restricting ideological training in public institutions, and ending what he calls the “compelled speech” culture in schools and workplaces.
He also wants to see more ideological diversity in academia, a rollback of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) mandates, and an end to hiring practices that prioritize identity over competence.
According to Kaufmann, these reforms must come from elected officials and not just from grassroots pressure. He argues that too many conservative leaders shy away from these issues, treating them as third rails instead of political battlegrounds.
“If these ideas go unchallenged, they become institutionalized,” he warned.
A Political Opening
Co-host Jeanne Ives noted that cultural frustration is driving more engagement on the right, especially among parents and small business owners who feel blindsided by new norms and policies they never voted for.
Kaufmann agreed, emphasizing that this moment represents an inflection point.
“There’s a real opportunity here,” he said. “People are starting to push back. But it has to be strategic and sustained.”