Cultural conservatism

Part of a series on
Conservatism
Schools Cultural · Fiscal · Green Liberal · Libertarian · National Neoconservatism Paleoconservatism · Social Traditionalist
Concepts Tradition · Social norm · Natural Law Family Values · Social Order Social Hierarchy · Private Property
People Edmund Burke Joseph de Maistre · Louis de Bonald François Chateaubriand Klemens von Metternich Adam Müller · Benjamin Disraeli Juan Donoso Cortés Hippolyte Taine · Orestes Brownson Frédéric le Play · Konstantin Leontiev George Santayana · Othmar Spann Winston Churchill · Charles Maurras Oswald Spengler · Carl Schmitt Michael Oakeshott · Arnold Gehlen Peter Viereck · Russell Kirk Leo Strauss · Nicolás Gómez Dávila Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn Robert Nisbet · Roger Scruton Olavo de Carvalho
Organizations International Democrat Union International Young Democrat Union Asia Pacific Democrat Union European People's Party European Democrats · AECR List of conservative parties
Religious Christian Right · Jewish Right Hindu Nationalism · Islamism Traditionalist Catholics
Related topics Reactionary · Counter-revolutionary Center-right · Right-wing politics Toryism · Carlism · Aristocracy Capitalism · New Right Monarchism · Neo-liberalism
Conservatism Portal
v · d · e

Cultural conservatism is described as the preservation of the heritage of one nation, or of a shared culture that is not defined by national boundaries.^{[1][page needed]} Other variants of cultural conservatism are concerned with culture attached to a given language such as Arabic.

The shared culture may be as divergent as Western culture or Chinese culture. In the United States, the term cultural conservative may imply a conservative position in the culture war. Cultural conservatives hold fast to traditional ways of thinking even in the face of monumental change. They believe strongly in traditional values and traditional politics, and often have an urgent sense of nationalism.

Cultural conservatism is distinct from social conservatism, although there are some overlaps. Social conservatives believe that the government has a role in encouraging or enforcing what they consider traditional values or behaviors. A social conservative wants to preserve traditional morality and social mores, often through civil law or regulation. Social change is generally regarded as suspect.

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland prior to the 1980s and 1990s, cultural conservatism, in the form of support for the Irish language, Gaelic culture and Roman Catholicism, was a force of major political importance. It was associated in particular with the Fianna Fáil party.

United States

In the United States, the term cultural conservative has increasingly been used as a replacement for the terms Christian right or religious right. In the US, the term cultural conservative may imply a conservative position in the culture wars. An example of a cultural conservative in the broader sense is Allan Bloom, arguing in The Closing of the American Mind against cultural relativism.

Notes

1. ^ Cultural conservatism, political liberalism: from criticism to cultural studies James Seaton, University of Michigan Press, 1996 ISBN 978-0-472-10645-5, 9780472106455]

See also

• Criticism of multiculturalism
• Paleoconservatism
• Paleolibertarianism
• Social conservatism
• Traditionalist conservatism