Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-k7p5g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T02:01:45.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Divided Over Diversity: Identity Conservatives And Identity Liberals

from Part I - Demographic change and the emergence of new political divides over identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2020

Maria Sobolewska
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Robert Ford
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Get access

Summary

In Chapter 3 we look at the differences in the values and worldviews of identity conservatives and identity liberals. The ethnocentric worldview of identity conservatives has two aspects: attachment to in-groups and hostility towards out-groups. They have clear ideas about who belongs to ‘us’, and strong suspicions of groups deemed to fall outside the tribe. Conviction identity liberals see this worldview, and the political stances which flow from it, as morally wrong, a conviction that is reflected in their commitment to anti-prejudice social norms. Ethnic minority ‘necessity liberals’ also strongly oppose ethnocentrism and its effects, because the suspicions and hostility of ethnocentric white citizens often fall upon them. They ally strongly with conviction liberals on identity conflicts, but do not share their broader socially liberal agenda. The politics of identity is a tug of war over social norms, with identity liberals seeking stronger and more expansive definitions of racism sanctioning a wider range of attitudes and behaviour, while identity conservatives push back against this process, attacking it as the unjust imposition of excessively stringent rules, which they believe stigmatise the legitimate expression of group attachments and anxieties about change.

Type
Chapter
Information
Brexitland
Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics
, pp. 57 - 84
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×