Redwashing is the practice of a collective entity presenting itself as progressive and concerned about

social equality Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and social servi ...

and

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, in order to use this perception for

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

or economic gain. In politics, the term typically refers to right wing populists adopting

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

ideals. The term is also sometimes used to denote the practice of discrediting a certain organization or political party that really defends social equality. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, corporations are often accused by Indigenous news media of redwashing.

Description

The term ''redwashing'' is derived from combining ''

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

'' with ''

whitewashing Whitewash is a paint-like covering of hydrated lime or a cheap white paint. Whitewash or whitewashing may also refer to: Racist practices * Whitewashing (beauty), modifying the skin tones of photographs of nonwhite people in mass media * Whitew ...

''. It is the practice of a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, or

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

presenting itself as progressive and concerned about

and

, in order to use this perception for

or economic gain. In regard to the sphere of politics specifically, the term typically refers to right wing populists adopting

ideals. According to commentators, it is common practice among right-wing politicians to adopt the rhetoric of left-wing politics to appeal to a wider segment of the electorate. As examples,

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

and

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

criticised market excess, although they did not offer any policy changes to combat this whilst in power. Similarly, the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

embraced protectionism to appeal to social democrat voters facing issues related to

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. The term ''redwashing'' is also sometimes used to denote the practice of discrediting a certain organization or political party that really defends social equality. In these cases, it seeks to delegitimize the argument of these collectives by presenting it as extremist or obsolete, trying to give the impression that it is a leftist

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

that is dangerous for the social group and in opposition to another idea that is shown to be more reasonable.

Indigenous redwashing

, corporations are often accused by Indigenous news media of redwashing if they attempt to show themselves as benevolent through sponsorship of Indigenous education, art, or culture to obfuscate harmful practices and cover up their history of colonialism.

Syncrude Syncrude Canada Ltd. is one of the world's largest producers of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. It is located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands, and has a nameplate capac ...

and Petro Canada are some of the largest employers of

Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, but their ecological impact has long-term detrimental effects on Indigenous land rights, water and health. These companies, among others, sponsor cultural institutions whilst simultaneously attempting to cover up the problems they cause.

Notes

References

External links

{{wiktionary, position=left Advertising and marketing controversies Deception Public relations terminology Socialism

Description

Indigenous redwashing

See also

Other "-washing" concepts

Related topics

Notes

References

External links