Cultural libertarianism is a term coined by Allum Bokhari which generally defines a broad movement standing in the opposition of what he calls “cultural authoritarianism”, i.e. political correctness, conservative correctness, and various attempts to limit freedom of speech. It can be described as a “free speech fundamentalism” as it puts “total artistic and intellectual freedom” as its utmost principle.[1][2] It differs from libertarianism because it opposes not only suppression of the freedom of speech by a state, but also by non-state groups.[3] Bokhari states that while cultural libertarians are often libertarians or conservatives (e.g. when it comes to their views on economy), they are actually “united only by their opposition to authoritarianism and their robust views on free speech and free expression and cannot reliably be placed on the left-right spectrum”.[2]
Bohari divides cultural libertarians into three broad categories:[2]
The movement has been criticized (to partial extent) by Daniel Pryor, a Fellow of the Center for a Stateless Society, a left market anarchist think tank, because cultural libertarians often employ methods (e.g. doxxing, harassment, death threats, excessive trolling) used by “social justice warriors” and pro-political correctness activists whom they criticize. Pryor also criticizes its non-recognition of “structural oppressions” as far as cultural libertarians “tend to view oppression as a phenomenon occurring on an individual or small group level”.[4]