'I Find that Offensive!'

This is a superb assessment of where we are today. As someone who thought they knew just how perniciously undemocratic and intolerant the educational world in particular had become, I Find That Offensive managed to shock and disturb even me. The litany of offence-claiming examples Claire reels off in the first section of the book had me looking them up in disbelief. �ÛÏOnce victimhood becomes such a valued social commodity, it leads to a desperate search for it.‰Û

The book is structured in three parts. The second identifies the causes of a deeply unpleasant contemporary cultural climate that finds offence everywhere, and like a child with its fingers in its ears, forbids all discussion. The third is in the form of a show more series of letters to the Generation Snowflake who have set themselves up as champions of injustice but who, as the author points out, ‰ÛÏoccupy an academy rotting from within.‰Û

Anyone whose professional life involves them working with children or students, especially those who ardently believe they are doing good, should read this book and think critically about their role. show less

Claire Fox has written a lively polemic directed against the 'snowflake generation'. Who are the snowflakes? They comprise that section of the population who claim special authority to close down discussion of current issues because it will cause offence or hurt to one or other of the rapidly expanding categories of individul who lay claim to being a victim of some form of oppression. The central point of her polemic is the necessity for resistance by people of good will to censorship on the ground that others may be offended by a plain spoken expression of a difference of opinion. Fox cherrypicks her way through many of the more egregious attempts to close down or stultify debate by 'deplatforming', 'trigger warnings','safe spaces' and show more similar cultural developments. She concludes with the device of an open letter, directed to snowflakes and anti-snowflakers alike, calling for a more resilient and better informed commitment to public discussion. show less