Woke movements aim for liberation (English: “liberation”) from systemic oppression and marginalisation: the existing system is considered incapable of reform and is to be abolished through transformation (see Utopia and Capitalism).
The postcolonial thinker Frantz Fanon saw liberation as the goal of decolonisation.39 For Fanon, violence is not only a way out of colonial oppression but also a means to free the colonised from their perceived inferiority.40 Political solutions without violence do not, in his view, lead to genuine liberation, as dependencies on the colonial rulers could re-emerge in other ways. Only through an anticolonial form of violence does the colonised oppressed become a fully emancipated human being. For Fanon, anticolonial violence is the tool that enables the “wretched of the earth” to achieve a world without oppression and racism.41
Inspired by postcolonial ideas, many activists show understanding for violence and terror, while explicit violence is rarely advocated themselves.42 Acts of violence by alleged victims are, however, often excused or overlooked.
Liberation is to be achieved through solidaristic and progressive action, creating a new system.43 The utopia of the liberated society is meant to succeed once enough people possess sufficient consciousness and thereby become new humans (see Social Constructivism and Culture).44 To this end, problematic discourses and ways of thinking are to be overcome.45
Belief in the promised liberation plays an important role in the religious zeal with which woke activists engage politically (see Progress).