Lecture Notes on Conservatism PDF

Lecture 5. Common view of Conservatism - Pragmatic Traditionalism Dictionary definition of conservatism, as preserving existing institutions, more often does not apply to conservative politicians. Conservatism argues in favour of strong leadership in a state as ordinary people are not competent enou...

Lecture 5. Common view of Conservatism - Pragmatic Traditionalism Dictionary definition of conservatism, as preserving existing institutions, more often does not apply to conservative politicians. Conservatism argues in favour of strong leadership in a state as ordinary people are not competent enough to rule. The essentials of ‘Pragmatic Traditionalism’ - Conserve: continuity of tradition - Defensive evolution of existing institutions (similar to Hayek who argued that markets should be left alone to develop themselves) - Cautious, pragmatic change - Human fallibility → role of superior elites - inferior masses - Value of traditional hierarchies Problems with ‘Pragmatic Traditionalism’: - Conservation of what exactly? How do we decide which traditions should be preserved and which should not? - Same way, which institutions should be defended? - Elitism: are inequalities natural, or socially produced? - Elite rulers often deploy manipulative strategies to get support What is Conservatism? 1. Conservatism as situational (Huntington) Huntington believed conservatism to be contextual/situational as it only works best in certain specific circumstances. 2. Authoritarian individualism, discreet decontestation & double-coding Eccleshall John Gray claimed that the New Right was not ‘conservative’ when it adopted neo-liberal ideology, i.e. not ‘conserving’, but radical change. Eccleshall disagreed stating that the ideas were not new, but the New Right now had electoral power to put these ideas into practice. Key ideas: decontestation and double-crossing Decontestation (Michael Freeden) - All ideologies try to ‘decontest’ their core concept (make it ‘obvious’, ‘natural’) Conservatives have tended to make ‘freedom’ their explicit core concept. However, the conservative decontestation of freedom is ‘discreet’, i.e. not wholly what it seems. Raphael Samuel has called it ‘double-coded’ (words saying one thing, but meaning another) In this way, Conservatism argues for ‘freedom’, but only for Elites. Elitism is hard to defend openly in a democracy when the elite has to seek mass support. Hence, conservatism is double-coded, saying one thing in private and another thing in public. 3. Conservatism as reactionary (Corey Robin) Robin argues that conservatism is a reaction - situational (Huntington) opposition of elitism (Eccleshall) to democratisation. Corey Robin believed that democratisation was not only about the votes, but also impacted every societal institution (family, school, workplace etc.) Conservatism, in this case, is an attempt to restore hierarchy and authority in insubordinate society. Democratisation is a claim to equality. It is this claim which conservatism are trying to put down (inferiors are not equal to superiors/authority). For Robin, conservatism is ‘the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back’. Lecture 6. Edmund Burke is seen as a key figure of early traditions of Conservatism. Conservatism aims to support the modern institutions or state. Conservatism aims to also counter modern threats: Capitalism as an endless process of transformation - Through competition, capitalism continually destroys old and creates new. Pace of change then tends to accelerate. - So what is it that conservatism preserves? Industrialisation, urbanisation, empowerment of the working class - Political pressures for equality in power and wealth The radical Enlightenment - opposition to authority - Rejection of ‘modern’ critical rational inquiry which questions the given ‘foundations’ of the status quo (the given social order) - Establishing authority over the change happening in society Democratisation (potential of revolutionary change) Edmund Burke worried about the impacts of the French revolution and its implications of breaking all the societal hierarchical connections. Burke believed that it was a mistake to let each person exercise their own freedom as we are not rational enough. Hence, it would be much better to have an authority which would guide lower classes. He also believed that the state should be treated as sacred and those in power should be ‘strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that you act in trust, and that they are to account for their conduct in that trust’. State should be adored and feared. For conservatism to preserve the existing institutions, change needs to be implemented. What change and what institutions? 20th century dilemmas: Enlightenment and Authority - Rise of social liberal/socialist narratives of rational intervention in economy - Growth of state - Rise of mixed economy Conservatives adapt and adjust. However, the New Right arises as a reaction (Corey Robin) in Hayek and Oakeshott. Lecture 7. Today’s conservatism can be understood as facing a kind of crisis caused by both the success and the failures of the New Right. - The New right was a response to the crises of the 1970s - But the world order created by the New Right now faces crises of its own Three conservative struggles with Late Modernity Post WW2 ‘one nation’ tradition - Strategies of ‘pragmatic’ modernization - Primitung development while containing threat of democratisation 1970S/80S: The New Right: Reagan & Thatcher 2000s: Success and failures of the New Right project - Authoritarian populism as response to the latest crises of conservatism 80s New Right: Thatcher & Reagan Neo-liberalism plus Neo-conservatism Developed radical programmes of national and international transformation. Positive programmes - Market-based vision of state and society - Social conservatism: emphasising national unity and social discipline Negative programmes - Rejection of ‘socialist’ post-war consensus and Keynesianism One nation tradition (overlap with US New Deal) Post-War consensus - Corporatism and balance of class power/interests: recognition of role of trade unions in both gov and business - Mixed economy with large economic role for the state - Welfare state - Redistribution through taxation New Right: Rejects one nation tradition Rejects its class compromise - compromises with democratisation - accommodation of trade unions within government and businesses - organisation and role of the state - compromises with social liberalism ‘socialism’ of Keynesianism and post war consensus It was called ‘counter-revolution’. These conservatives were not interested in reimagining the old order, but in creating a new order. For instance, Margaret Thatcher wanted to change the way people thought, and involving them into the market (in Hayek) would do so (e.g., pushing people to join university so they would have debt and have no other choice but involve themselves in the market and employ an entrepreneurial mindset). Libertarian ideas (Ayn Rand): Freedom is understood as radical individualism and self-ownership - The notion of having a duty to share responsibility for other people makes people ‘slaves’ to each other - Particular resonance in the US - notion of freedom ‘to bear arms’ - Big notion is placed on free markets (rich white entrepreneurs) Neo-conservative ideas (Irving Kristol) Supportive of market society and the freedoms it makes possible Also, deep concerns about the psychological effect of the liberal society - Liberal individuals unwilling and unable to defend liberal society (US’ citizens refusing to support its country’s foreign wars) The solution would be to create a stronger sense of nation sense and purpose (nationalism) and greater market discipline (impose responsibilities and disciplined choices: e.g. student debt; precarity) Successes of New Right (1990-2000) Defeat of ‘socialism’ and communism Widespread acceptance of neo-liberal domestic model (defeat of the alternatives) - TINA: ‘There Is No Alternative’ (Margaret Thatcher) Failures of New Right (Noughties) Second Iraq war - 2003 - Widely regarded as political defeat for use of US military power (e.g., increased threat of Islamic radicals) Financial Crash 2008 - Widely seen as discrediting and revealing the limitations of the neo-liberal model Ecological crises Post-crash conservatism Ideological and strategic loss of coherence - Xenophobia - Severe restrictions on trade unions and effective political protests Authoritarian populism (popular support)? Identification with ‘strong’ and ‘effective’ leaders - We all have authoritarian potential within us - Projection of images of strength - Setting rules rather than following them - Above ‘ordinary’ moral rules, even laws These leaders are great in winning public support, but often fail to live up to their promises and maintain support. Failing to give a coherent program, conservatives now try to gain support by ‘authoritarian personality’ (Brexit & MAGA).