A Brief History of the Culture Wars

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A history and analysis of the Culture Wars.

Timestamps:

0:00 Prelude to Culture War
01:21 1. Introduction
09:01 The 1960s: Rise of the Counterculture
12:27 2. Meet the Culture Warriors
19:28 The 1970s: The Orthodox Fightback
22:46 3. The Ammunition
34:26 The 1980s & 1990s: All Out War
37:19 4. "Making Things Political"
44:29 The Present Day: Regroup and Revival
46:49 5. The "Culture War" and the "Class War"

In this month's episode of What The Theory?, I (Tom Nicholas) look at the "Culture Wars", combining a historical overview of some of the key events that have been central to this supposed cultural conflict with a critical examination of what distinguishes the culture wars from "conventional" politics.

We'll look at how the progressive movements of the 1960s (including the New Left, the Civil Rights Movement, the Free Speech Movement, the early LGBT rights movement and second-wave feminism) blasted cracks in the conservative conformity of the 1950s, consider the rise of neoconservatism and the Christian Right in the United States in the 1970s and the arguments surrounding art and music in the same country in the late 1980s.

We'll also look at more recent cultural fractures such as those surrounding Black Lives Matter, statues being torn down and the political right's current war on "wokeness", "identity politics" and critical race theory, as well as other debates which have been reignited in the United States following the election of Donald Trump and which have been imported to the United Kingdom following the Brexit referendum.

At the same time, we'll also look at why it is that "culture war" antagonisms often feel so irreconcilable and what separates the "culture war" mode of politics from both the "class war" mode and more liberal, idealist understandings of politics.

It's a long one, but my goal was to make the best "culture wars explained" video that I could. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

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