Diversity: A Contested Concept (Perspectives in Education)

Social Conservatism

Social conservatism prioritizes the private sphere—be it capitalism's free market fundamentalism or exclusionary religious morality—and guards private interests and identities against encroachment from the public sphere. This orientation holds a belief in a homogenous common culture for a nation-state and argues that the specter of demographic and economic heterogeneity can undermine social cohesiveness and the foundation of Western civilization. Social conservatism stands in opposition to demands from diverse groups for public recognition and redistribution rights. Consequently, the symbolic and material discourse of cultural diversity is viewed as an antisocial nuisance that obstructs social progress.

Prioritization of the Private over the Public. This particular orientation is accounted for by how liberalism traditionally privileged both the individual and the private domain of life. Because classical liberalism focuses on the individual rather than the group as the primary social unit of relevance, conservatism considers attempts to publicly assert diverse group identities, perspectives, and claims as misguided and harmful. Differentials in standards of living or educational attainment, for example, can be explained by the logic of conservatism on the basis of individual merit since all individuals are assumed to have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Neoliberalism's form of liberty focuses on that which is private and supports public policies only when private interests are protected from infringement. Social conservatism incorporates tolerance of diversity when it gives individuals the liberty to privately define their own identities, but should be publicly neutralized when diverse group identities are asserted. Equity demands for an expansion of social services are opposed under the assumption that these can take financial resources from those who have accumulated their private wealth due to their individual merit, a basic premise of classical liberalism's construction of a common culture. Diversity for this position is located instead in the marketplace wherein individuals can assert their unhindered liberty to select, for example, schools of their choice for their children without unnecessary public intrusions. From this orientation parents are not subject to the arbitrary power of the state, but instead are free to act as private citizens in the interests of their children.

...