Cancel Culture: Exclusion and Historical Identity

The article attempts to investigate cancel culture as a modern form of ostracism through the lens of exclusion proposed by Michel Foucault. The research focuses on the relationship between social identity and cancel culture. Identity is conceptualised as a symbolic resource, and the influence of discursive strategies on the process of identification is examined. Special attention is given to prohibition as a form of controlling discourse. It is shown that prohibition manifests itself in exclusion, affecting not so much a particular person but rather a discussion or even the very possibility of a discussion. Foucault’s key concepts are analysed in relation to this task: disciplinary power, regimes of truth, and the norm as an instrument of coercion. The peculiarities of the exclusion mechanism in different epochs are studied. It is argued that social media can serve as a conduit for disciplinary power in the modern world. Through various media channels and social networks, individuals are influenced by economic, political, and cultural actors who compel them to comply with certain rules. Today, individuals are more controllable than in the Panopticon described by Foucault due to surveillance cameras, smart city technologies, digital footprints, and other tools. The article also demonstrates how the previously outlined framework can be applied to the analysis of cancel culture. The new norm focuses less on the body and more on ethical judgements and socially accepted (normal) behaviour. The mere existence of cancelling, along with the increasing instances of its application, sets the boundaries for what is deemed proper. The inability to perform certain actions due to the expectation of backlash and fear of cancellation affects not only their manifestations, but also identity itself. It is shown that cancel culture, originally spread to promote inclusiveness and the freedom of expression for previously oppressed groups, now functions as a restriction of freedom through control. It is concluded that cancel culture, by prioritising ethical over instrumental uses of the past, constructs identity through coercive relevance, i.e. its very existence dictates the framework for behaviour, actions and statements. 

Keywords: cancel culture, Michel Foucault, inclusivity, norm, exclusion, historical identity, identification