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The announcement of a new book by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, the self-described “professor against political correctness,” has prompted dozens of complaints from its publisher’s staff in Canada, according to a report.
The Vice story said Tuesday that the announcement of Peterson’s upcoming Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, a continuation of its global bestseller 12 Rules for Life, led to “several” employees of Penguin Random House Canada (PRH Canada ) to confront management. Peterson’s views on issues including transgender rights, gender and race have been controversial. Last year, the University of Cambridge rescinded its offer of a Peterson visiting scholarship following criticism from professors and students. Also in 2019, 12 Rules for Life was temporarily withdrawn from sale on a New Zealand book chain following the terrorist attack on a Christchurch mosque, due to perceived links between Peterson’s fanbase and Islamophobia.
At a PRH Canada town hall meeting on Monday, an employee told Vice, “people were crying over how Jordan Peterson has affected their lives.” PRH Canada’s diversity and inclusion committee reportedly received at least 70 anonymous messages about Peterson’s book from staff, with only “a couple” in favor of the decision to publish it.
In response, PRH Canada told Vice that it “immediately” held the forum after announcing its plans to publish Beyond Order and “provided a space for our employees to express their views and provide comments.”
The editor’s statement read: “Our employees have started an anonymous feedback channel, which we fully support. We are open to hearing feedback from our employees and answering all your questions. We remain committed to publishing a variety of voices and points of view. “
Peterson’s daughter Mikhaila tweeted a link. to the Vice article. “How to improve the business in 2 steps: Step 1: Identify the adults who cry. Step 2: fire, ”he wrote. “If you don’t think that adults willing to cry to get their way in a workplace is a problem … clearly it’s not run by many people.”
Peterson’s Beyond Order, out in March, promises to deliver “12 more life-saving principles to withstand the grueling toll that our desire to order the world inevitably takes.”
“In an age when the human will is increasingly imposed on all spheres of life, from our social structures to our emotional states, Peterson cautions that too much security is dangerous,” says the editor. “What’s more, it offers strategies to overcome the cultural, scientific, and psychological forces that make us tend to tyranny, and it teaches us to trust our instincts to find meaning and purpose, even and especially when we are powerless. . “
The Guardian understands that no PRH staff in the UK have complained about the decision to republish Peterson.
Protests in Canada over Peterson’s book follow Hachette’s decision to abandon Woody Allen’s memoirs after a staff strike, reporting that JK Rowling’s UK publishing staff were told they couldn’t. refusing to work on her new children’s book The Ickabog because they disagreed with her views on the rights of transgender people.
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