Culture Wars, Social Movements, and Institutional Politics

Abstract

Concludes an edited Vol on the nature & extent of cultural wars in the contemporary US by summarizing critiques of the cultural war thesis. According to James Hunter (1991) & others, the US is currently experiencing an increase in cultural polarization, especially along orthodox/progressive lines. Contributors have leveled several criticisms at this thesis: (1) A single continuum is unable to capture the variety of US opinions & attitudes toward contentious political issues. (2) Connections between worldviews, opinion, & political action are more tenuous than Hunter claims. (3) Hunter has erred in taking the rhetoric of cultural conflict at face value without developing empirical evidence for underlying cultural tensions. It is suggested that the process Hunter identifies -- the polarization of ideologies leading to uncompromising conflict -- is a process of social movement mobilization in contemporary politics rather than evidence of a deep division in the US polity. Viewed in this light, Hunter's thesis of the escalation of cultural conflict may be broadly supported at an institutionalized political level & yet be less pertinent to narrower forms of individualized beliefs & attitudes. D. M. Ryfe