14 novembre 2009

What happens to feminists, homosexuals, racial minorities and others marginalized in a conservative society?



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This article is from the Conservatism FAQ, by Jim Kalb kalb@aya.yale.edu with numerous contributions by others.

What happens to feminists, homosexuals, racial minorities and others marginalized in a conservative society?

The same as happens in a society based on the liberal conception of
inclusiveness to religious and social conservatives and to ethnics
who consider their ethnicity important. They find themselves in a
social order they may not like dominated by people who may look down
on them in which it is made difficult to live as they prefer.

In both kinds of society, people on the outs may be able to persuade
others to their way of thinking, practice the way of life they prefer
among themselves, or break off from the larger society and establish
their own communities. Such possibilities are in general more
realistic in a conservative society that emphasizes local control,
federalism, and minimal bureaucracy than in a society that demands
egalitarian social justice and therefore tries to establish a
universal homogeneous social order. For example, ethnic minorities in
a conservative society may be able to thrive through some combination
of adaptation and niche-finding, while in an "inclusive" society they
will find themselves on the receiving end of policies designed to
eliminate the public importance of their (and every other) ethnic
culture.

One important question is whether alienation from the social order
will be more common in a conservative or a liberal society. It seems
that it will be more common in a social order based on universal
implementation of a bureaucracy's conception of social justice than
in one that accepts the moral feelings and loyalties that arise over
time within particular communities. So it seems likely that a liberal
society will have more citizens than a conservative society who feel
that their deepest values and loyalties are at odds with the values
of the institutions that dominate their lives, and so feel
marginalized.



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