Cultural conservatism is conservatism with respect to culture. This term is increasingly used in political debate, but is rather ill-defined. This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ...

National reference

A national cultural conservatism is a strand of conservative thought that argues for the preservation of a nation's domestic culture, usually in the face of external forces for change. There are other strands of cultural conservatism, concerned with a shared cultural heritage not defined by national boundaries: for example, European or Chinese cultures, or the culture attached to a given language such as Arabic. This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... The Arabic language ( ), or simply Arabic ( ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ...

American context

In a usage that is only loosely related to those, the term cultural conservative has also increasingly in American politics replaced the term religious right, the latter term having developed some negative connotations and also being too narrow for convenience. An example of a cultural conservative in the broader sense would be Allan Bloom, arguing in The Closing of the American Mind against cultural relativism. Cultural conservative may now simply imply a conservative position in the culture wars. The Federal Government of the United States was established by the United States politics is dominated by the two major parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. ... The term Religious Right is a broad label applied by both scholars and critics to a number of political and religious movements and groups that primarily are active around conservative and right wing social issues. ... For the more specialised meaning of Connotation in semiotics, see connotation (semiotics). ... Allan Bloom. ... The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom (published 1987 ISBN 5551868680), describes how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of todays students. ... Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual humans beliefs and activities make sense in terms of his or her own culture. ... The term culture war has been used to describe ideologically-driven and often strident confrontations typical of American public culture and politics since at least the 1980s. ...

Cultural criticism

The various ways in which the term cultural conservatism are used are potentially unified, if one assumes firstly that the scope is that of the cultural critic (not the easiest term to define itself), and secondly identifying the 'output' of cultural criticism as a polarised axis with the conservative position at one end. A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole and typically on a radical basis. ...

This is problematic, as appears as soon as any case studies are examined. A cultural conservative may not necessarily be a conservative in other political matters.

Some cases

In Canada many cultural conservatives are on the political left. They argue that foreign cultural products undermine Canada's liberal values. Most Canadian cultural conservatives also support Canada's strict Canadian content regulations; as does the majority of the Canadian public. These regulations restrict the amount of foreign content allowed on Canadian television, radio and magazines and give a required amount of airtime to established and new Canadian artists. The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Canadian content (cancon or can-con) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters (including cable/satellite specialty channels) must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. ...

A cultural conservative in the Australian context may object to importing movies or TV shows from the United States, believing that such media would have a negative effect on native Australian values. He could argue that American society is fundamentally different from Australian society in many key ways, and that saturation in American culture causes emulation of American values, with negative results. In historical context The factual accuracy of this section of this article is disputed. ...

Cultural conservatives may thus promote the idea of intervention: culture ministries or other government-financed bodies to protect domestic culture through various means, including tariffs on imported "cultural products" or by giving grants to local artists, musicians, and other producers of cultural material. A tariff is a tax on imported goods. ...

Another strand of cultural conservatism of importance in non-anglophone countries is resistance to the spread of the English language. For example, in France this has long been considered a major issue. The Académie française is concerned, not only with the use of anglicisms, but the general maintenance of the French language, in an explicitly conservative way. In popular culture, films may be subsidised. Look up Anglophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Académie française, or French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ...