Book contents
- Brexitland
- Reviews
- Brexitland
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction: How Britain Became Brexitland
- Part I Demographic change and the emergence of new political divides over identity
- 2 Social Change, Ethnocentrism and the Emergence of New Identity Divides
- 3 Divided Over Diversity: Identity Conservatives And Identity Liberals
- 4 Legacies of Empire: Commonwealth Immigration and the Historical Roots of Identity Politics Divides
- Part II Identity conflicts from New Labour to the Coalition
- Part III Brexitland
- Bibliography
- Index
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
- Brexitland
- Reviews
- Brexitland
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction: How Britain Became Brexitland
- Part I Demographic change and the emergence of new political divides over identity
- 2 Social Change, Ethnocentrism and the Emergence of New Identity Divides
- 3 Divided Over Diversity: Identity Conservatives And Identity Liberals
- 4 Legacies of Empire: Commonwealth Immigration and the Historical Roots of Identity Politics Divides
- Part II Identity conflicts from New Labour to the Coalition
- Part III Brexitland
- Bibliography
- Index
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
- BrexitlandIdentity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics, pp. 57 - 84Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020