The Battle Over a U.S. Culture War: A Note on Inflated Rhetoric Versus Inflamed Politics

Abstract

The concept of a "culture war" has occasioned almost as much conflict among scholars as it depicts within societies. Although it should be more of a variable than an absolute, this paper argues that the phrase over-reaches as a description of the U.S. during and since the 2004 Presidential election. Not only does the U.S. fail to fulfill a criterion of "widespread polarization," but it also falls mercifully short of the kind of "concerted violence" and the pursuit of "illegitimate government control" that the notion of a war requires. The paper ends on a comparative note with brief accounts of research visits to four societies where culture wars have been fully realized as a lamentable fact of daily life: Northern Ireland, Guatemala, Israel, and India. These sketches -- like the argument itself -- are drawn from the author's recent book, Crossing the Gods (2001).

Recommended Citation

Demerath , N. J. III (2005) "The Battle Over a U.S. Culture War: A Note on Inflated Rhetoric Versus Inflamed Politics," The Forum: Vol. 3 : Iss. 2, Article 6.
DOI: 10.2202/1540-8884.1083
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol3/iss2/art6