I'm not trying to make a conspiracy theory on the lines of "Cultural Marxism" here, but people need to be aware that there is a very strong culture in the Academic Left that is driving much of the principles and behaviour of the modern Social Justice movement. Not simply are SJWs turning to sociology to backup their ridiculous claims - Social Justice is an inevitable product of this culture.

I'm sure you have all heard of the Sokal hoax, but i'll summarize:

In 1996 Alan Sokal wanted to test the intellectual rigor of one of the top cultural studies journals in the world by submitting a paper called "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity". The paper was deliberately written as a nonsensical attempt to blend Post-modernism and quantum physics, in such a way that anyone with the even the smallest amount of physics education would recognize it as meaningless. The paper was published.

The affair caused a lot controversy and examination of the Academic Left, who defended themselves by dissimulating their intentions behind the publication, and accusing Sokal of being "Un-educated, white, male and nerdy"

This incident has sparked a genuine concern in the sciences for a division of government supported academia that does not accept criticism even when it is making absurd mistakes. You can have a quick look at the 'Similar Incidents' section of the Sokal wiki page, to see that the issue is still relevant.

The issue has not been taken far enough however, as scientists have been chiefly focused on Post-modernism and Positivism, and their claims that there is no objective reality. I would like to suggest that the problem is much more widespread and deeply ingrained in academic culture

I was an English Literature student for three years, and i distinctly remember being surrounded by a culture hostile to science, criticism and ideologically driven. At the time i just dismissed it as being academic types navel-gazing, but as GamerGate started to develop i did not see crazy teenagers on tumblr begging for attention, or indy dev cliques conspiring for money. I saw many former classmates expressing the exact same ideology and talking points that had been fed to us for years. Of course they have all accepted the aGG narrative, and those who remain in academia are using it as fuel for their next essays.

They have Academic 'scientific' backing for their arguments. There are whole PHDs dedicated to why racist or sexist jokes propagate rapes or racially charged violence. There are PHDs on 'subversive' literature, or why narratives should be written in a certain way to disrupt cultural norms. It's literally not just DiGRA. Don't even get me started on the hundreds of social studies experiments peer reviewed by other social studies professors who have simply very flawed approaches to statistics

In his stream "Sickness of the Left" Sargon of Akkad expressed concern that SJWs were planning for the future. Well they are, they are fueled by academic disciplines with pedigrees of hundreds of years, that nobody on the outside can understand, because of the jargon and immense edifice of interconnected arguments. This culture is the standard throughout the humanities in social studies, culture studies, gender studies, philosophy, science studies, anthropology, literature and critical theory. The culture consists of :

• A general disdain for science, mistrust of scientific theories, or contempt for scientists, particularly in the area of Evolutionary Science and Cognitive science (the very disciplines infringing on their territory)

• Feminism (obviously). Anyone who contests the relevance of feminism will be called out in class and ridiculed in the worst case, or simply ignored or ostracized in the best case

• Rejection of Capitalism, decrying of the failure of the modern world, and the belief that the core pillars of civilization serve the capitalist-patriarchy at the expense of everyone else

• Marxism. It's subtle but it is there. It isn't an accepted ideology, but similar ideas are pervasive throughout the core texts,, especially in critical theory, and Marxist or post-Marxist thinkers are referenced everywhere. I don't agree with the Cultural Marxist conspiracy theory, but a lot attention is given to this.

• Liberal Political ideology - I'm a liberal, i imagine most people involved in GG are liberals, but the ubiquitous level of contempt and hostility for non liberal politics is not something that i believe is appropriate for a university.

• Impenetrability - Try to argue and you will be told you haven't done your research. If someone from the outside has a criticism, it's not even given the time of day, and the critic is dismissed as a conservative. Of course how can you argue if you haven't studied structuralism, post-structuralism, queer theory, intersectionality, the death of the reader, or simulacra? Have you considered Derrida's arguments on logocentrism? It's like fighting a land war in Russia - they just retreat into an immense void, and it makes entire fields closed to real criticism

I'm not trying to suggest this is uniform. Some universities are worse than others, and some classes are worse than others. I imagine in some areas the culture is very subtle, and certainly very few professors or students should be accused of knowingly and aggressively pushing this culture - it just pervades everything like a layer of dust. Sometimes there is a little openness: I actually submitted an essay that used biological arguments to critique feminism - i got a low grade and "interesting but needs more research". Of course these disciplines are so insular and impenetrable that they can't help but become echo chambers.

However, at the end of the day, Bahar Mustafa, Welfare and Diversity officer for Goldsmith's students' union, makes what amounts to a hate speech and is allowed to keep her job. It is worth noting that speeches like that are literally against British law and can be punished with prison time. Again, Bahar has received no sanction, and is still working in that role.

So i think people should be aware of this, because if i'm right there will be no winning GamerGate. These people are deeply entrenched and are here to stay

TL/DR: The Academic Left is influenced by a culture that rejects outside criticism, is strongly ideological, politically engaged and anti-science. This culture provides a deep legitimacy to modern Social Justice and will not be retreating any time soon.

EDIT: Okay so everyone knows this stuff already - somehow i've been reading KiA for a long time and i missed that. Well in order to not waste a post, let me pose a question: What can be done about Academia? Can we address this issue more thoroughly or is that not for GamerGate? Are we content simply to state that social studies is flawed, or that gender studies is agenda-driven and leave it at that?