Autorentext

George Hawley is associate professor of political science at the University of Alabama. He is the author of a number of books, including The Moderate Majority, Making Sense of the Alt-Right, and Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism.

Klappentext

George Hawley, who has written extensively on conservatism and right-wing ideologies in the United States, presents a telling portrait of conservatism's relationship with identity politics.

The American conservative movement has consistently declared its opposition to all forms of identity politics, arguing that such a form of politics is at odds with individualism. In this persuasive study, George Hawley examines the nature of identity politics in the United States: how conservatives view and understand it, how they embrace their own versions of identity, and how liberal and conservative intellectuals and politicians navigate this equally dangerous and potentially explosive landscape.

Hawley begins his analysis with a synopsis of the variety both of conservative critiques of identity politics and of conservative explanations for how it has come to define America's current political terrain. This historical account of differing conservative approaches to identitarian concerns from the post-war era until today—including race, gender, and immigration—foregrounds conservatism's lack of consistency in its critiques and ultimately its failure to provide convincing arguments against identity politics. Hawley explores the political right's own employment of identity politics, particularly in relation to partisan politics, and highlights how party identification in the United States has become a leading source of identity on both sides of the political spectrum. Hawley also discusses this generation's iteration of American white nationalism, the Alt-Right, from whose rise and fall conservatism may develop a more honest, realistic, and indeed relevant approach to identity politics.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Conservatism and other Concepts

2. Conservative Arguments against Identity Politics

3. Conservative Explanations for Identity Politics

4. Conservatism and the Civil Rights Movement

5. Conservatism and Feminism

6. Conservatism and Immigration and National Identity

7. Partisan Politics as Identity Politics by another Name

8. Lessons from the Alt-Right's Rise and Fall

Conclusion: Conservatism beyond 2020