How a new “woke” elite uses the language of social justice to gain more power and status—without helping themarginalized and disadvantagedSociety has never been more egalitarian—in theory. Prejudice is taboo, and diversity is strongly valued. At thesame time, social and economic inequality have exploded. In We Have Never Been Woke, Musa al-Gharbiargues that these trends are closely related, each tied to the rise of a new elite—the symbolic capitalists. Ineducation, media, nonprofits, and beyond, members of this elite work primarily with words, ideas, images, anddata, and are very likely to identify as allies of antiracist, feminist, LGBTQ, and other progressive causes. Theirdominant ideology is “wokeness” and, while their commitment to equality is sincere, they actively benefit fromand perpetuate the inequalities they decry. Indeed, their egalitarian credentials help them gain more power andstatus, often at the expense of the marginalized and disadvantaged.We Have Never Been Woke details how the language of social justice is increasingly used to justify thiselite—and to portray the losers in the knowledge economy as deserving their lot because they think or saythe “wrong” things about race, gender, and sexuality. Al-Gharbi’s point is not to accuse symbolic capitalistsof hypocrisy or cynicism. Rather, he examines how their genuine beliefs prevent them from recognizing howthey contribute to social problems—or how their actions regularly provoke backlash against the social justicecauses they champion.A powerful critique, We Have Never Been Woke reveals that only by challenging this elite’s self-servingnarratives can we hope to address social and economic inequality effectively.