• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Why Democracy Rejects Cultural Conservatism

by Dr Nicolas Lewkowicz, PhD, FRHistS - August 20, 2013

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
Multicultural Cultural Conservativism
A different future

by Dr Nicolas Lewkowicz, PhD, FRHistS

The post-modern canon of democratic representation is informed by the unshackling from the rigid tenets of the Enlightenment project. The onset of postmodern condition is entrenching a change of focus, prioritising the notion of subjective human rights over the idea of collectivised socio-economic rights. The importance of subjective human rights resides in the fact that they enhance the ontological autonomy of the individual. The case for the consolidation of third generation human rights is concomitant with the need to keep a dynamic economic system. While the emerging social ecology results from the ever-widening income disparities, it is also a manifestation of the increased chances of identity-based self-actualization for individuals.

Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders cultural conservatism
Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln, August 28, 1963

The postmodern condition rejects the concept of cultural conservatism, which I define as the idea of uniform social forms of conduct and the imposition of static blanket categories adhered to by different societal groups. The cultural shift which began to emerge in the late 1960s created a break from the intransigent principles of the Enlightenment, based upon obsolete antinomies concerning gender, sexual, political and social identities.

The postmodern condition is therefore characterized by a heightened feeling of uncertainty and ambivalence, derived from the enfeeblement of strict social taxonomies. The demise of the strict ideological ordering of the international political order (which stemmed from the bipolar confrontation between the West and the Communist world) has given rise to weakened forms of political repression in the public space. Although Western societies were in a position to fend off the threat of Communist ideology, they could not arrest the strengthening of new forms of political representation endorsed by socio-cultural interest groups such as the LGTB, environmentalist and feminist organisations.

The enlarged scope for individual autonomy creates several fractures in the make-up of society. The adaptation process which is taking place entrenches the notion that, since the onset of the technotronic era, the risks that might threaten the homogeneity of society cannot be fully controlled. In this revamped version of modernity, institutions like political systems, religious doctrines and family structures fail to protect the individual from social upheavals. This lack of homogeneity entails a retreat from the idea of uniform socio-economic rights, which before the cultural shift of the 1960s had become one of the main instruments to maintain a high level of cultural conservatism on both sides of the political spectrum.

on cultural conservatismAs this cultural shift unfolded, the idea of redistributive justice acquired a socio-cultural orientation; compelling individuals to tread water as much as possible, but ensuring increased access for previously disenfranchised groups such as ethnic and sexual minorities. The Left concedes that the meliorist project which originated the post-war economic boom had lost its viability. Simultaneously, the forces of conservatism, eager to liberalise economic relations, are increasingly forced to reconcile the principle of autonomy in the economic and cultural spheres.

Postmodernity can be seen as the cultural framework in which third generation human rights are activated and protected. Authors like Bauman and Beck emphasize that the postmodern condition creates an increased fluidity of the notion of identity. The liquefied version of modernity accomplishes a double-pronged goal that satisfies people on both sides of the political divide; it generates opportunities for self-actualisation in the cultural sphere and incorporates new forms of objective and subjective commoditization in the economic arena.

 

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Capitalism and Big Business, Feminism, LGBT People and Democracy, Libertarian Party News, Religion and Democracy, Republicans, Socialism and Labor

About Dr Nicolas Lewkowicz, PhD, FRHistS

Dr Nicolas Lewkowicz, PhD, FRHistS writes for Democracy Chronicles from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a Research Professor at University of New Mexico and a Fellow at Royal Historical Society.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | Why Democracy Rejects Cultural Conservatism

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

A Dangerous Reprise Of American Exceptionalism In Ukraine

By Jamie Lampidis May 15, 2022

The stakes are too high to cave into Putin’s phantasmatic imperial play, and too high to believe that this war can be won by arming Ukrainians.

On The Coming End Of Roe v. Wade

By Peter J. Dellolio May 11, 2022

Anyone who says that the evolution of law has nothing to do with politics is either very corrupt or very stupid. Laws evolved through the centuries.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Goodbye Roe v. Wade, Goodbye Rule Of Law

By Andrew Straw May 5, 2022

Congress should impeach judges who act like that because it is not good behavior, and they were asked not to act that way when they were confirmed.

PODCAST: Debating The Future Of Debates

By Jenna Spinelle May 4, 2022

We love a good debate — and have certainly had plenty of them on this show. But how effective are they in today’s media and political landscape?

What “Pro-Palestine” Student Groups Get Wrong

By David Anderson, J.D. May 3, 2022

Back then – as now – this fit into a “colonialist” narrative of European Jews oppressing Arabs – an easy, eye pleasing but intellectually lazy fit.

Examining Government As A “Necessary Evil”

By Gary Berton April 29, 2022

Thomas Paine defines government as separate from society, and indeed if society functioned perfectly there would be no need for government.

Ukrainian And Polish History: Fighting The Empires

By Maxim Sidorenko April 26, 2022

On February 24th, Russia started an unprovoked war against Ukraine. It has become one more attempt of the empire to demolish the Ukrainian state.

PODCAST: What Student Debt Says About Democratic Institutions

By Jenna Spinelle April 26, 2022

In a new book, Josh Mitchell draws alarming parallels to the housing crisis, showing the catastrophic consequences student debt has had on families.

Aging White Men Who Commit Voter Fraud Have Nothing To Fear

By Steve Schneider April 22, 2022

The sentences stand in contrast with the actions of the Governor who recently got the state legislature to create an election integrity police force.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

Kenyan 'Cartooning For Peace' To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

Kenyan ‘Cartooning For Peace’ To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

May 17, 2022

Cartooning is an art that has been playing a major role in illustrating stories in different ways, from health to politics, and even sports.

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers' Anxiety, Even Online

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers’ Anxiety, Even Online

May 17, 2022

Organizational leader’s tweets can influence employee anxieties and this effect is more prominent since the rise of COVID-19, study.

North Korea Cracks Down On 'Capitalist' Pop Culture

North Korea Cracks Down On ‘Capitalist’ Pop Culture

May 6, 2022

North Korea has increased its campaign against “capitalist” style clothing, others, in broader crackdown on foreign pop culture.

DiCaprio, Ruffalo Urge Brazilians To Vote, Irking Bolsonaro

DiCaprio, Ruffalo Urge Brazilians To Vote, Irking Bolsonaro

May 6, 2022

Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo joined other celebrities making a final push for voters in Brazil to register to vote.

Mock M&M Election Teaches Alaskans About Ranked Voting

Mock M&M Election Teaches Alaskans About Ranked Voting

April 26, 2022

There are paper cups with eight different kinds of M&M near the entrance to Amalga Distillery in Juneau for a mock ranked choice vote.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy