Unraveling the Right: The New Conservatism in American Thought and Politics

273 Pages·2001·26.46 MB·English

by  Amy Ansell

Unraveling the Right
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Unrave ing the Right
The New Conservatism in
American Thought and Politics
edited by
Amy E. Ansell
, A Member of the I'erseus Books Group
All rights ~sen~ePdri.n ted in the United States of A~nericaN. o part of this publication xnay
be repmdtlced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in-
clud~ngp hotocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, withr>ttt
permission writing Erc~rntl -ie publisher,
Copyright @ ZOM Published by Wst-view Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Croup
First publshect in 1998 in Ui~itedS tates of heriea by Wieslzrie~7P ress, 5500 Central AV-
&(.fie
entle, Boulder, Colorado 80301-2877, and in the United Kingdom by Westriiew Press, 22
Hicl's Cc~pseR oacl, Cunmor Hill, C)xfc>rcfC )X2 E3fr
First pqerback printing 2001.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Daka
UnraveIing the right : t11e new rclnservat~5min hencmt hcjught and
politics I edited by Amy hsell.
p, cm,
Include bibtttgraphicat references and index.
ISBN 0-8133-3146-3 jl-rardcover); XSBIV 0-8133-3147-1 (paperback)
1. Conservatism-Ut~ited States. 2, United States-Politics and
gtjvernme1zt-199~% . l. Amelf, Amy Elizabeth, 1964- .
jC573.2.U6U57 1998
320.52'09"i"3-d~21 98-3569
CIP
The paper wed in this publication meets tl-ie requirements of the American National Stm-
dard for Permnenre of Paper for Printed L~braryM aterials B9.48-IQ@.
Fd"
QN DEMAND
Contents
Foreword
Introduction, Amy E. Ansell
Part One Organizational Currents
1 Following the Threads, Chip Bedet
2 The Personal Is Political: The Role of Cultural Projects h
the Mobilization of the Christian Right, Sam Diamond
3 Inventing an American Conservatism:
The Neoconservative Episode, Gary Dorrien
4 Business Conflict and Right-Wing Movements,
Mattkw N. Lyons
Part Two Ideological and Policy Currents
5 Kitchen Table Backlash:
The Antifeminist WamenfsM ovement, Jean Hardisty
6 Fulfilling Fears and Fantasies: The Role of Welfare ill
Right-Wing Social 'Ihouet and Strategy, Ann Wifhorn
7 Why Did Army Apologize? Hegemony, Homophobia,
and the Religious Right, Anna Marie Smith
8 The Color of America's Culture Wars, Amy E. Ansell:
9 The Military-Industrial Complex and U.S. Foreign
Policy: Institutionalizing the New Right Agenda in
the Post-Cold War Period, Romld W. Cox
10 The New Right's Economics: A Diagnosis and
Counterattack, Richard D. Wolf
11 Mastering the New Political Arithmetic:
Volatile Voters, Declining Living Standards, and
Non-CoHegeEducated Whites,
Ruy A. Tkixeira and JoeT Rogers
Notes on fhe Editor land Confribufclrs
Index
Foreword
This volume anahzes the most central and most significant puhlic issues
cdronting our society at the end of thc twentieth century, and it does so
in a remarkably helpful way The new conservatism not only shapes the
quality of our lives but presmts a number of haunting issues that are not
easily resolved.
The implications of the new conservatism for values and for ideology
are basic. This ideology elevates a refigious minnriw the Cl~ristianR igbr,
and an affitter~tr ninority over the great majority and ddines these as
mort. worthwhile, arbitrarily defining tihem as making the chief contribu-
tion to society.
Because these groups aljoy more ready access to the media than most
of the population, they can inculcate this warped view widely, especially
ammg those vvho are chiefly influenced by the electronic media. The rea-
son for such a bias lies in the tendency of news and commtary on radio
and television to focus on their entertainment value and on propaganda
that is advantageous to the ambitions of the powerful. This tendency dis-
courages a critical stmce from listeners and viewers.
Students of organization are awarc, moreover, that it is oftm subordi-
nate employees, such as schoolteachers and store clerks, who most deci-
sively inlluernce the decisions Chat determine the quality of life, while
their hierarchical superiors get the credit for doing so, although their
"decisions" art. typically ambiguous and inccmclusive, The claims of the
cmservative Right to mcmitor and improve societal vatues are therdore
largely misleading and hypocritical.
The wme living cmditions and stmdards become for a significant
part of the pzlblic, the more cynical these people are likely to be and t-he
mort. enticing the appeal of cmservatke ideology will be fur them. This
~lathelyre cent phenomenon is a stark deparbre from the long-held as-
sumption that poverty unemployment, and other burdensome develop-
ments encourage adherence to left-ist or liberal causes.
In the course of arg a ta bout desirable public policy, adherentri to a
particular view are likely to define it as moderate, whereas its opponmts
see it as extreme. But "extreme"' and '"moderate" a~ahr ighly volatile tcrrms,
shaped by the ideologies of those who use them. aight-wing positions re-
garded as extreme through most of the twentieth century are now defined
by newspaper editorials and political spokespersons as moderate.
This volume is a major and admirable contribution to our knowledge
of symbolic politics and of contemporary issues. It will continue for a
long time to deepen and clarify our ul~derstmdingof political and social
trends.
NIurray El-lelman
Madison, W1
Introduction
Amy E. Ansell
Beginning in the mid-I9'7"Os, an increasing mount of media a d s chol-
arly anetntion has been showered m what has been atternati\iely defined
as the "New/Christian sight," the "new conservatism," the "respectable
Rght," md the ""caunter-counterestablishment." %ch attention makes a
great dad of sense since evidmce of a new cmservative mobilization has
been palpable irt a myriad of cultural and pofitiral arenas: the bombing of
abortion clinics by Christian Rght fmdamentalisks; the passage of anti-
gay and lesbian rights initiathes in Oregon and Colorado by right-wing
hornphobic forces; the success of anti-immigrant legislation pioneered
by the racist Rght at the polls in California; passage of the California
Civil Rights hitiatjve (CCRI) that legislated abandonment of affirmat-ive
action programs in effect for the past two decades; the rise of the antigov-
ernment militia movement and its link with the boding of the Okla-
homa federal building; and, perhaps most poignantly, the so-called Re-
publican revolution in the 1994 midterm electjons, which brought
right-wing Republicans to a dominant poktion in Congress for the first
time in over fortcy years.
These are only some of the most saU.ent examples of the apparent
power and influence of a new strain of conservatism in American
thought and policy, Conventional wisdom would have us believe that
such rigJnt-whg actjvq represents the margha1 influence of right-wing
radicals who have only a peripheral influence on the political main-
stream, which has shown itself to be highly resifielni: to attacks upon it.
Despite the fact that a rigl-ttist agenda was front and cenkr throughout
the &agm administration as it undermined key Great Society commit-
ments in economic and social policy and that this agenda was clearly ev-
ident in the Clinton administration's siping of welfare legislation that
abancions central tenets of the welfare state in place since the New Deal,
conventio~narl easonhg continues to interpret Americm conservatism as
an aberrational phenomenun that swims against the domhant currents
of liberal democratic thought and poticy. The fall of the Berth Wall and