James Davison Hunter, LeBras Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture, and Social Theory at the University of Virginia, dives into the disintegration of America’s cultural solidarity. He discusses how historical ideals of freedom and justice have remained unrealized, leading to deepening political polarization. Hunter addresses the shift from economic issues to cultural conflicts, emphasizing the rise of nihilism and challenges to democracy. With a thought-provoking focus on the need for new cultural resources, he ponders the future viability of liberal democracy in a fractured society.
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insights INSIGHT
Cultural Crisis Underlying Political Crisis
America's political crisis stems from a cultural crisis.
This cultural crisis is reflected in the increasing polarization and division in the country.
insights INSIGHT
Shift from Economic to Cultural Division
The main division in 20th-century America was about political economy, focusing on wealth distribution.
This shifted to cultural issues like abortion, gender roles, and religion, reflecting a deeper conflict over cultural authority.
insights INSIGHT
Culture as the Primary Driver
While economic inequality, political manipulation, and social media contribute to the crisis, culture is the primary driver.
The 2008-2009 recession intensified the culture war by adding a class dimension.
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Democracy and Solidarity on the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis
Democracy and Solidarity on the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis
On the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis
James Davison Hunter
James Davison Hunter's "Democracy and Solidarity" delves into the cultural roots of America's political crisis. Hunter argues that the nation's political polarization stems from a deeper cultural crisis, tracing its origins back to shifts in cultural conflicts during the latter half of the 20th century. The book explores how conflicts over cultural issues, such as abortion and gender roles, have overshadowed traditional class-based political divisions. Hunter analyzes the role of national myths in maintaining social cohesion and examines the challenges of finding new sources of solidarity in a post-Enlightenment world. Ultimately, the book raises crucial questions about the future of liberal democracy in America and beyond.
Liberal democracy in America has always contained contradictions—most notably, a noble but abstract commitment to freedom, justice, and equality that, tragically, has seldom been realized in practice. While these contradictions have caused dissent and even violence, there was always an underlying and evolving solidarity drawn from the cultural resources of America’s “hybrid Enlightenment.”
James Davison Hunter, who introduced the concept of “culture wars” thirty years ago, tells us in Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis(Yale UP, 2024) that those historic sources of national solidarity have now largely dissolved. While a deepening political polarization is the most obvious sign of this, the true problem is not polarization per se but the absence of cultural resources to work through what divides us. The destructive logic that has filled the void only makes bridging our differences more challenging. In the end, all political regimes require some level of unity. If it cannot be generated organically, it will be imposed by force.
Can America’s political crisis be fixed? Can an Enlightenment-era institution—liberal democracy—survive and thrive in a post-Enlightenment world? If, for some, salvaging the older sources of national solidarity is neither possible sociologically, nor desirable politically or ethically, what cultural resources will support liberal democracy in the future?
New Books in Political Science 