Sovereignty vs Cancel Culture
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” — Inigo Montoya in the The Princess Bride
R.I.P. cancel culture. Cancel culture has no meaning.
This week we have seen news about boycotts affecting Goya and My Pillow because of their owners’ political views. These two men cry that they are being unfairly canceled. Then the publishers of the beloved Dr. Suess children’s books decided to stop printing new copies of seven titles that are offensive to some people. People on the Right said that now even Dr. Suess is being canceled. What is the world coming to?
What the world is coming to is that the words “cancel culture” are being used to describe actions that are so diverse that they have no meaning except as a dog whistle to the Republican base. It is time to (ahem) “cancel” that phrase.
Instead of cancel culture, I want to talk about sovereignty.
My friend Darlene wrote about her thoughts on the Goya boycott (see comments for the text of her post to our local listserve). She placed the boycott clearly in the realm of sovereignty. To me, sovereignty is self-determination. It is the agency to act. It is taking back power.
In past days, “sovereign” was the way people referred to their queen or king. Sovereignty was related to the power and agency of the monarch.
The word sovereign has migrated to be used to describe Indigenous groups, when they act on their rights of self-determination and property. When they do this, they are acting as sovereign nations.
We can also talk about food sovereignty. When a person or group of people is in control of their own food sources, they have food sovereignty. When Black or Indigenous communities build food sovereignty, it is an act of resistance against the current system. Food sovereignty is part of economic sovereignty, which can happen on the individual level when a person becomes an adult and feels independent, and at the level of a group, like when Black folks decide to buy from Black owned businesses.
A person can claim sovereignty over their own body. When you, yourself, are a sovereign entity, you have control over your own body and can decide who touches you and when. When people build a culture of body sovereignty it looks like a culture of consent. Sex between two sovereign humans is based on mutual consent, but a culture of consent goes way beyond sex. It could extend to unwanted comments, looks, or even touching someone’s hair.
When people march in the street and say “Black Lives Matter,” that is an assertion of sovereignty. When Darlene decides to stop buying Goya, it is an act of economic and food sovereignty. When my friend Sara puts a bumper sticker on a truck that says “Honor Treaties,” that is an assertion of tribal sovereignty. When a person calls out rape or abuse, it is an assertion of body sovereignty.
When a person or group is asserting their right to sovereignty, it can feel like an existential threat to other people in the system. This is because we have been sold the false belief that we live in a zero-sum world, where when one person or group reclaims their sovereignty, it takes away from the sovereignty of another person or group.
Those who have been on the receiving end know that the capitalist/patriarchal/settler colonial project has always been about claiming sovereignty over the lands, bodies, or minds of other people. To be Black, Indigenous, undocumented, working class, homeless, female, young, old, LGBTQ+, or any number of identities in America, is to live in a system that actively seeks to deny one’s sovereignty.
It should go without saying that it is possible to live in a world where one person’s sovereignty does not diminish the sovereignty of another person. That is called a healthy relationship. We can be in healthy relationship with each other, with groups of people, with non-human living beings, and with the Earth.
Those in power or relative advantage within this system might feel threatened when oppressed people assert their sovereignty. They might cry out that they are being unfairly canceled. Let them cry.
Let’s use this lens to look at the issues of rural working class white people (like me). We have seen the systematic dismantling of economic and personal sovereignty in rural communities. Local schools have been closed and consolidated. Small and medium sized farms have lost out, due to policies that favor large farms and corporations. These policies converted many independent farmers and businesspeople into employees. Many businesses in small towns have closed, due to competition from big box, fast food, and dollar stores. Debt burdens for home, school, and health have kept people stuck in underpaying jobs. Corporations have come in to pollute land, air, and water through mining, fracking, building pipelines, and dumping of waste. Each of these is an infringement on the sovereignty of rural people. It hurts.
We could use some more sovereignty around here, but the people who benefit from the oppressive system want us to blame someone else, and they want us to come to their defense when their power is threatened. They want us to see common cause with their power and share in their existential threat when they are called out. This is a trick.
I choose to see my common cause with those who are fighting for their own sovereignty.
True liberation is about liberating all people. When I work for the liberation of others, I am increasing the chances of my own liberation. This is what it means to be in solidarity. I understand that we are all connected. For example, the struggle for a livable minimum wage is my struggle, because it is about human dignity and sovereignty. It is also my struggle because when people are denied a livable wage, my taxes go to supporting them and subsidizing their employers.
The phrase “cancel culture,” as used by Republicans, is a red herring. It is a distraction. The Right use the phrase when they want their base to think a liberal mob is unfairly attacking them.
To people taking back their power and sovereignty, the phrase “cancel culture” might refer to what it looks like when abusers are held accountable. But that phrase has been co-opted by the Right.
Words matter. Language is important because most of us think in words. We can choose our words and therefore choose our thoughts. I can choose not to engage in nor lift up the phrase “cancel culture.” I can instead choose words and phrases that lift up liberation and sovereignty.
Black Lives Matter
Honor Treaties
Keep Families Together
Fight Like a Girl
You Are Not Alone
Support Family Farms
No Human is Illegal
Justice for Breonna
Respect My Existence or Expect My Resistance
We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For
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This podcast was my inspiration this week:
Another link to reference (Sent by a reader, Dan):
