The concept of culture war and its potential for the analysis of political and worldview conflicts

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the potential of the cultural war concept for the analysis of political and worldview conflicts in American and other modern societies. Based on the methods of case study, literature and statistics analysis, the article provides the main provisions of the concept and analyzes key academic discussions about the features of the application of this theoretical perspective to American social and political life. The author identifies two approaches to the analysis of cultural wars – empirical and systemic (bipolar). The classification of the “hot buttons” of cultural wars in modern, primarily Western, societies is given. The thesis is put forward that although it is impossible to reduce all moral confrontations to the conflict of “orthodox” and “progressivists”, the bipolar approach often turns out to be useful for understanding the most significant culture wars. The author comes to the conclusion that the thesis about culture wars being waged in the United States not only withstands the criticism put forward by skeptics, but also becomes more and more relevant against the backdrop of the contradictory trends of the modern world. This conclusion is consistent with theoretical and empirical studies of political psychology and sociology, pointing to the deep nature of citizens' opinions on moral and identity issues. The concept of culture war as a theoretical perspective that points to the fundamental nature of differences of opinion on moral and ethical issues can also shed light on processes taking place in other countries, including Russia.