Helen Pluckrose

Helen Pluckrose
File:Helen Pluckrose.jpg Pluckrose in 2018
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of East London (B.A.) Queen Mary University of London (M.A.)
Occupation	Author, cultural writer
Known for	Co-author in the grievance studies affair
Notable work	Cynical Theories (2020)

Helen Pluckrose is a British author and cultural writer known for critiques of critical social justice and promotion of liberal ethics, most notably in the grievance studies affair.

Education

Pluckrose completed a degree in English literature at the University of East London and a master's degree in early modern studies at Queen Mary University of London, with a particular focus on "the ways in which medieval women negotiated the Christian narrative".

Career

Pluckrose is currently editor-in-chief of Areo Magazine, an opinion and analysis digital magazine exploring "a variety of perspectives compatible with broadly liberal and humanist values".

Grievance studies affair

Alongside James A. Lindsay and Peter Boghossian, Pluckrose was involved in the 2017–18 grievance studies affair (also referred to as "Sokal Squared" in reference to the 1996 Sokal affair), a project which saw the group submitting a number of bogus academic papers to peer-reviewed journals in cultural, gender, queer and race studies, to see if they would get published. The authors stated their goal as highlighting poor scholarship and eroding criteria in some academic fields, particularly those influenced by postmodern philosophy and critical theory. Despite criticism of the exposé as a "hoax" and "coordinated attack from the right", Pluckrose and her colleagues describe themselves as "left-leaning liberals".

Cynical Theories

In 2020, Pluckrose released a non-fiction book, Cynical Theories, co-authored with Lindsay and published by Pitchstone Publishing.

Counterweight

Pluckrose founded Counterweight, a "non-partisan, grassroots movement advocating for liberal concepts of social justice", to "help individuals resist the imposition of Critical Social Justice (CSJ) on their day to day lives". Counterweight launched an online advice service in January 2021.

External links

• Areo magazine, 'About'
• Helen Pluckrose on Twitter