The decision to publish a new book by Jordan Peterson, a controversial Canadian psychologist at Penguin Random House Canada – who called white privilege a “Marxist lie” – brought tears to the eyes of employees during the company’s wide-ranging meeting, according to a new report.
Some workers, who did not want to be identified, told Vice News that Peterson’s book “Bind Order: Life for 12 More Rules” would be published by a subsidiary of Penguin Random House and released in March 2021.
The announcement is the center of an emotional town hall with employees on Monday.
An employee told Vice News, “People were crying at the meeting about how Jordan Peterson had affected his life.
Popular among right-wingers, Peterson spoke specifically against Canadian law Bill C-16 in 2016, adding “gender identity or expression” to the Canadian Human Rights Act. A law passed the following year made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender.
At the time, Peterson, 58, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, said he believed free speech was criminalized by law. He also refused to use gender-neutral pronouns – a move that the university condemned.
“This is the first law I’ve seen that people under the threat of legal punishment are required to use certain words, to speak in certain ways, instead of just limiting what they are allowed to say,” Peters told the Toronto Sun. So the law has put words in our mouths. “
On his YouTube channel, which has 2.2 million subscribers, Peters also denounced the white privilege principle as a “Marxist lie” and claimed that masculinity was an attack.
Penguin’s employees have flooded the company’s diversity and inclusive community with messages about Peterson’s decision to publish a new book – just a couple in favor of doing so.
“It’s a sign of hate speech and transphobia and despite the fact that it’s a sign of white book content, I’m not proud to work for the company that publishes it,” a member who is a member of the LGBTQ community and attended the townhall told Vice News
Another activist pointed out that the company was facing “anti-racist and allied things” for publishing Peterson’s book, which the company recently released.
“It just seems like a perfect demonstration of all their previous efforts,” the employee said.
In a statement to the publication, Penguin Random House Canada said it welcomes feedback.
“We announced yesterday that we would be publishing Jordan Peterson’s new book Beyond Order this coming March. Immediately following this announcement, we held a forum and provided a space for our employees to express their views and give feedback, ”he said.
“Our staff has launched an anonymous feedback channel, which we fully support. We are open to hearing feedback from our employees and answering all their questions. We are committed to publishing many voices and perspectives. ”
Peterson’s first self-help book, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos”, has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
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