Culture Wars Research Articles

The War Within Religion: Towards a More Nuanced Resolution of Religion–Equality Conflicts

The War Within Religion: Towards a More Nuanced Resolution of Religion–Equality Conflicts

Cold War Kreutzer: Tolstoy’s Posthumous Political Career from Venice to Palestine

ABSTRACT The year 1960 marked the fiftieth death anniversary of Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), one of the earliest self-proclaimed world writers. That summer, the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) organized a lavish international conference near Venice; meanwhile, in Haifa, the Palestinian Trotskyist Jabra Nicola (1912–1974) published his translation of Tolstoy’s sex-obsessed late novella The Kreutzer Sonata. These two events exemplified contrasting styles of Cold War literary internationalism, one aspiring to global dominance and the other to local impact. Both responded to Tolstoy’s “world” status, Kreutzer’s moral ambition, and the Soviet Union’s successful appropriation of nineteenth-century Russian literature. Exploring the CCF archives and the Arabic Kreutzer tradition, this article asks how each of these 1960 events came about, what they assumed, and what they achieved. The Palestinian Israeli case offers a usefully peripheral perspective from which the Cultural Cold War appears both more tangible and less strictly bipolar. Jabra’s translation used the resources provided by Soviet cultural diplomacy for local progressive ends: not to press for social change in Arab society, but to build the cultural confidence of readers who found themselves both minoritized as Israelis and isolated from their fellow Arabs.

Expansions of the Real

This article explores the challenges posed by the Anthropocene and climate change to human perceptions of reality and the need to revise traditional notions of the real. The article examines Amitav Ghosh’s novel Gun Island as an attempt by Ghosh to break free from the anthropocentric limitations in the realist tradition that he identifies in his critical work in The Great Derangement in order to give shape to a new climate change realism capable of representing larger than human realities. The article studies the literary strategies Ghosh uses in Gun Island to cause a post-anthropocentric reality to emerge from beneath its concealment by anthropocentric worldviews: from uncanny animations of settings by nonhuman agencies to a metafictional blurring of fiction, imagination, perception and more-than-human realities, which, the article argues, inspires new ways of reading the real and quite concretely performs some of literature’s affordances in the cultural struggle against climate change.

Winning Women's Hearts and Minds: Selling Cold War Culture in the US and the USSR by Diana Cucuz

<i>Winning Women's Hearts and Minds: Selling Cold War Culture in the US and the USSR</i> by Diana Cucuz

Winning Women's Hearts and Minds: Selling Cold War Culture in the US and the USSR by Diana Cucuz (review)

Winning Women's Hearts and Minds: Selling Cold War Culture in the US and the USSR by Diana Cucuz (review)

Curriculum for living structural crises towards socially just futures: bringing diverse funds of knowledge into participatory-democratic action around lifeworld problems that matter

As crises unsettle lives across the globe, growing numbers of people, in diverse situations, encounter social and planetary futures in peril. Harder to grasp is how historical structures of unequal power underpin those perils. Building capacities to comprehend the lived effects of structural injustices, and proact to transform them, are ethical challenges for schooling, which this paper takes up. I initially focus not on school curriculum but ‘populist curriculum’: ideological messages that issue from power-forces and spread across societies. I draw conceptually on Antonio Gramsci to diagnose how, in current times, populist messages verge Extreme-Right as a hegemonically powerful minority wages culture wars that target marginalised groups to blame for ‘good-citizen’ sufferings. Such unjustly divisive efforts to hold power manifest a crisis of governance in chaos, I argue, symptomizing how structural underpinnings are at historic tipping points towards dangerous times ahead. Against the mis-educational tide of populist curriculum, I consider how school curriculum can build young people’s knowledge and agency to live present-day crises towards sustainable and socially-just futures. Taking conceptual tools from Paolo Freire, Lauren Berlant, and the Funds of Knowledge (FoK) approach pioneered by Luis Moll and colleagues, I draw on a school FoK project I was part of, that suggested possibilities for participatory-democratic curriculum activity, but limited by system constraints. I then conceptualise ways to expand beyond the constraints through what I call a Problems That Matter approach, featuring collaboration among students, community people, teachers and academics in student-led action-research on lived problems in their communities.

The Differences Between Wars in Ancient China and Ancient Greece--The Analysis Based on The Book of Songs and Ancient Greek Mythology

This paper aims to analyze the different views of war in ancient China and ancient Greece, based on The Book of Songs and Ancient Greek Mythology. The comparisons are divided into three parts: the distinction of background, views in The Book of Songs, and attitudes towards war in Ancient Greek Mythology, and finally conclusion will be drawn. In the first part, the geography factors will be given, and then the analyses of lifestyles, personalities and beliefs that are influenced or shaped by the natural environment follow, also including the comparisons. The second part is on the views of war in The Book of Songs where four typical examples are given which represent four genres that indicate four different attitudes towards war in ancient China, also with analyses. Part three is based on Ancient Greek Mythology, the Trojan War especially, which fully exemplifies the western view of war. The analyses of the culture of offensive war and individual heroism follow. Finally, in the last part, some suggestions for nowadays diplomacy will be given based on the analyses and comparisons above. Also, the culture of defensive war and patriotism, as the two most distinct and significant beliefs, are worth highlighting separately, for they still deeply affect nowadays Chinese.

Making White Christian nationalism plausible: Examining the institutional logic of a conservative Christian school

Over the last several years, enrollment at Conservative Christian schools has risen noticeably due to a response to COVID-19 regulations and culture wars being played out within primary and secondary schools. Alongside this trend, there has also been a significant rise in White Christian nationalism during the early part of the 21st century. Using data gathered through an ethno-case study of a Conservative Christian school, I examine the institutional logic that animated and guided the way the school socialized students to think about their civic and public life. I describe this logic as a theo-political logic that manifested itself symbolically through the language and theory of the Christian worldview which was not only taught by faculty but also helped to organize the curriculum and pedagogy of the school. Building on this description of the theo-political logic and using Peter Berger’s (1967) notion of plausibility structures, I argue that while conservative Christian schools may not explicitly support White Christian Nationalism, the theo-political logic that organizes and dominates the school helps develop plausibility structures that allow students, faculty, and staff to support policies and public engagement that align with White Christian nationalism.

Why temporality matters in collective resistance: Shifting civic norms in a post‐traumatic society

AbstractWhat is the role of civic norms for social change after traumatic events, and how do those norms shape collective resistance? The present study seeks to address this urgent query by examining Sicilians' culture war against the mafia. Based on rigorous ethnographic research over a period of 7 years (2016–2023), an extensive database was created, which included 77 commemorative events, a guided city tour, 54 interviews with antimafia activists, and 89 audio–visual recordings totaling 1768 min. I introduce two analytical concepts, “informative rituals” and “transmissive rituals,” that offer a new perspective on how activists leverage the civic norms of social bonds to realize their objectives. I argue that shifting civic norms in a post‐traumatic society is not only driven by collective resistance but also requires significant time in the presence of an oppressive force. This study proposes that, for a socially traumatized community attempting to shift civic norms, prolonged and strenuous endeavors are required in order to thoroughly permeate those norms among the general public. The findings demonstrate that the consolidation of civic norms within post‐traumatic societies is highly contingent upon its temporal context and sustainability, which explains why culture wars frequently necessitate a long‐term communal investment.

Cultural Aid and the Cultural Cold War: The Origins of the Ford Foundation's entry into Burma

After the beginning of the Cold War, an unprecedented consensus on the Cold War was formed in the United States. Civil organizations represented by the Ford Foundation deeply participated in the cultural Cold War led by the U.S. government through the way of identity reconstruction. In consideration of the Cold War, the Ford Foundation from the very beginning directed a large amount of funds and cultural projects to Asia, rather than to Europe and Latin America, which were traditionally close to the United States. Burma received early attention from the Ford Foundation because of its unique location. At the same time, the government of Burma was trying to maintain national unity and stability by reviving Buddhism, but was struggling with a lack of funds. So the government invited the Ford Foundation to help fund its Pali Project. While the latter agreed to provide cultural assistance to Burma, the ultimate goal was to enhance the understanding and identity of the Burmese people with Western culture, so as to better serve the US Cold War project.

Staying the Course in the Balkans

In the midst of culture shock, war, and difficult ministry situations, God's call and faithfulness kept the Bells serving him in missions for over 30 years.

A cultural theory of the culture wars

AbstractWe provide the first account of the culture wars in the political psychology and public opinion literature based on a theory of culture. Using innovative measures of grid‐group cultural theory (CT), we identify the cultures associated with ideological and partisan identifications in annual U.S. national surveys from 2011 to 2022, a unique data set of 24,870 respondents. As hypothesized, we find that the culture wars occur not just between ideologues and partisans but among them as they draw support from distinct, relatively stable yet shifting cultural coalitions. Egalitarian and, less often, fatalistic liberals and Democrats battle against individualistic and, less often, hierarchical, conservatives and Republicans. As hypothesized, fatalists are the least reliable coalition partners, and, as expected, they gravitate Republican and conservative in 2017, after Trump's election. However, fatalists who are strong partisan identifiers never defect. Moreover, our hypothesis that fatalist attraction to Trump would drive defections in their political identification is largely invalidated. Instead, fatalists mostly flee Trump in our aggregate analysis as well as in subanalyses of strong and weak ideological and partisan identifiers. In 2016 and 2018–2022, it appears that independent fatalists cause fatalists to gravitate liberal and Democrat. Unexpectedly, hierarchists also go liberal and Democrat in 2022, in apparent reaction to Trump's multifront attacks on the 2020 election that he lost. We identify the basis for cultural coalitions that can end particular culture wars, including the most significant one now occurring between egalitarians and individualists, and conclude with suggestions for further research.

Cultural wars and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Southeast Asia: ‘Asian values’, human rights, and the ‘homosexual turn’

Some have argued that we are seeing a ‘homosexual turn’ in Southeast Asia. Decriminalization of sodomy, legal recognition of same-sex marriage, and discussions regarding trans rights have all taken place in the last decade. However, a backlash has emerged as well. Governmental censure of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender issues has escalated, with politicians espousing anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rhetoric and warning against importing ‘cultural wars’ from the West into Asia. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights debate is becoming the new cultural battleground in Asia, with ‘Asian’ and ‘family’ centered values being pitted against ‘Western hegemony’ and ‘moral corruption’. As lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender activists advocate for more recognition, the ‘traditional’ heteronormative family is further institutionalized and valorized. This article aims to interrogate the ‘cultural wars’ in Asia as reflected in the tension between burgeoning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender activism and the enduring privilege of heteronormative families. It will explore this cultural clash through the following three dimensions: (1) rights framing, (2) competition over resources, and (3) political backlash. Ultimately, though, the article argues that as opposed to seeing this tension as a ‘cultural war’, instead we should see this conflict as developmental growing pains, as the region continues to evolve, and nation-states begin to grapple with the burgeoning rights and an irrepressible recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender identities that had been buried under layers of ideologies, from political to moral.

Positive liberty in the drama &lt;i&gt;The Serfs&lt;/i&gt; by Ivan Cankar

Cankar’s drama The Serfs (Hlapci) was written during the cultural struggle waged at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and contains otherwise rarely stated political theses that have had a profound influence on the formation of Slovenian collective memory. The key world of Slovenian culture, as conveyed through the Cankar's drama, serves to express the dynamic processes of modernization and points to the unformed liberal and socialist discourse at the time. This is why the work functions in Slovenian culture as a call to action, even to active resistance.

Owning the Libs: The Contemporary Politics of Envy

Abstract: This essay defines Owning the Libs (OTL), a logic of envy, characterized by a subject's need to both deny another enjoyment and to frustrate the capacity of these political opponents to live. My case studies focus on reactions to progressive protests in the post-Ferguson environment. OTL is not downstream of some cultural war nor an exotic right-wing, illiberal phenomenon. Situating personhood in the tradition of violent dispossession, I illuminate the practice's liberal roots, before concluding OTL will be (if it is not already) US conservatism's policy agenda, and an existential threat to progressive agitation.

From the Three Rs to the “Culture Wars”? How Australians Perceive Local Government Action on Climate Change, Indigenous Reconciliation, and LGBTQIA + Advocacy

Australian local government has rarely been the domain where entrenched and polarising cultural disputes play out, and is instead most often associated with the “3Rs”: roads, rates, and rubbish. However, in recent years, a growing number of local councils from across Australia have taken exceptional and unprecedented steps, sometimes in defiance of state and federal governments, to address some of the country's most ideologically contentious issues. Drawing on long-established American urban politics literature on local politics and culture war conflicts, this research note offers an empirical account of the public understandings and perceptions of local government roles in the realm of contentious politics, an area that has not yet been addressed in the emerging Australian literature. Our findings from a representative nation-wide survey (n = 1,350) indicate that a majority of Australians believe that local governments should be involved in matters relating to climate change, Indigenous reconciliation, and LGBTQIA + advocacy.

The inordinate unpopularity of changing all eponymous bird and other organismal names

A proposal by Foley &amp; Rutter (2020) to eliminate all eponymous English bird names was published in the Washington Post, a Washington D.C. newspaper. Fears (2021) reported in this same newspaper that a racist and colonialist history is perpetuated in some English bird names, especially eponyms, and that a social movement is working to change those names. These articles generated hundreds of online comments. I used sentiment analysis on these comments to quantify public reaction to this proposal and topic. Among the 340 scored comments to Foley &amp; Rutter (2020), negative opinions outnumbered positive ones by 3.36:1. Scoring comments by relative magnitude of their sentiment (-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3) yielded an average score of -1.18. These results indicate this proposed action is very unpopular among these readers and causes pronounced divisiveness. The 570 scored comments to the Fears (2021) article were also negatively skewed (2.3:1), though less so (average score -0.58). Politicization and the left-right nature of the issue were rampant in the comments on both articles, indicating that the subject was immediately brought into the culture wars (i.e., conflict between liberal and conservative groups over cultural issues). The divisive nature of the topic was also evident within self-identified left-leaning respondents. These results likely underestimate public negativity to this proposal, because the Washington Post is a left-leaning newspaper. Similarly, Guedes et al. (2023) called for eliminating all eponymous organismal names, and a sentiment analysis of comments about that article was even more starkly negative, showing 90 % of commenters opposed. More data like these are needed. There is considerable risk that broadly de-commemorating eponymous organismal names will create more negative than positive outcomes (e.g., through asymmetric polarization and the culture wars). We must also ask: does excluding people who do not share our views achieve our objective of inclusiveness? When is it acceptable to take away someone’s hard-won knowledge by changing key terms in our shared biodiversity linguistic infrastructure? There are more constructive ways to address diversity, equity and inclusion.

Courageous Conversations: Preparing Students to Lead in a Politically Polarized Business Environment

We describe an experimental curriculum innovation that creates a safe space for students to engage in courageous conversations —to openly share diverse thoughts and opinions as well as vigorously debate politically charged issues of critical business importance. Course evaluations and online surveys of student experiences and reactions strongly suggest that the courageous conversation model is an excellent way to prepare the next generation of successful business leaders. In a world where politically polarizing issues embedded in America’s culture wars increasingly impact business viability, profitability, and competitiveness, such leaders are both highly coveted and key to organizational success.

“Divisive Issues” and Collateral Damage: The Evolving Needs of Teachers Entrenched in the Culture War

Forty-four states have recently taken formal policy steps to limit how teachers can teach about so-called “divisive issues.” This paper examines teachers’ perceptions of what they need to be prepared to teach in states where “divisive issues” legislation exists. Teacher interview data where restrictive legislation exists were used to explore what inservice teachers need to teach within the constraints of states’ divisive issues legislation, and what teacher preparation programs should focus on when preparing new teachers to do the same. Analysis revealed, among other things, that all feel they need clear guidance from their district, and better training.

Feminism, boomers and Baphomet: Satanic satire and the Trump era culture wars in Satanic Panic (2019)

Focusing on the Gothic comedy Satanic Panic, this article examines how the film uses satire as a liberal reaction to the patriarchal, theocratic agenda of Trumpism, following a notable tradition of Satan adopted as a symbol of countercultural, individualist revolution. I argue that the text’s youth-focus, as well as its representation of gender, national identity and economic class, negotiates feminism and competing ideologies of satanism to suitably reflect the opposing strands of the contemporary culture wars. Indeed, the post-truth, paranoiac United States under Trump has seen apocalyptic rhetoric and occult conspiracy-thinking flourish alongside left-wing satanic activism. A sociopolitical climate that draws distinct parallels with the 1980s and 1990s ‘Satanic Panic’ era and Y2K premillennialism. This work conceptualizes, through close analysis, how the film effectively articulates such postmodern retroactivity – at both a thematic and narrative level – to reflect the gendered, generational divide and troubling legacy of Reaganite neo-liberalism at the heart of the Trump era.