I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It: Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom

Norman Finkelstein made his name debunking Israel’s apologists and exposing the cynical weaponization of Jewish history. In this work, Finkelstein trains that same forensic eye on identity politics writ large.

After methodically parsing the canonical identity-politics texts, Finkelstein concludes that they’re lacking in intellectual substance. Instead, the real purpose of identity politics is to derail a class-based movement bent on radical change.

Finkelstein shows how the cult surrounding Barack Obama used identity politics to burnish a status quo president’s radical sheen. When a truly progressive movement cohered around presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, these “woke” liberals mobilised identity politics to discredit him.

Along the way, Finkelstein recalls his own life in radical politics and his close encounters with cancel culture, which left him unemployed and unemployable. He situates his personal story within broader debates on academic freedom and poignantly concludes that, although occasionally bitter, he harbors no regrets about the choices he made.

“If I can’t laugh, I don’t want your revolution,” Finkelstein declares. Laced with his signature wit, readers of this book will get to laugh along with him.

This revised edition of Finkelstein’s instant classic features a new chapter dissecting the Supreme Court's landmark decisions on affirmative action. In a bracingly original analysis, Finkelstein shows the stark limits of affirmative action discourse in the face of an economic system that is fundamentally rigged.