To what extent do traditional conservatives and the New Right differ in their views on society?
Traditional conservatives adopt an organic view of society. This implies that society works like a living thing, an organism, which is sustained by a fragile set of relationships between and amongst its parts. The whole is therefore more than just its individual parts. This implies that the individual cannot be separated from society, but is part of the social groups that nurture him or her, reflecting the dependent and security-seeking tendencies within human nature. Organic societies are fashioned ultimately by natural necessity, and therefore cannot be ‘improved’ by reform or revolution. Indeed, reform or revolution is likely to destroy the delicate fabric of society, creating the possibility of radical social breakdown. Conservative has held that society has an ‘organic’ character, in the sense that it exhibits features that are normally associated with living organisms – human beings or plants. In this view, societies are complex networks of relationships that ultimately exist to maintain the whole, the whole being more important than its individual parts. In that sense, society differs from a machine, which is merely a collection of parts. The conservative notion of an organic society has a variety of implications, including the following: It implies that change, particularly radical change, is undesirable, as it misguidedly treats society as if it were a machine whose parts can be assembled and reassembled, recast and reformed, in the hope of improving its workings. It supports a ‘communitarian’ tendency within traditional conservatism that stresses the importance of social duty and obligation, and is linked to the One Nation tradition. The health of an organic society is upheld by attempts to strengthen the ‘fabric’ of society, in line with a functionalist view of social institutions and structures. Such thinking has encouraged conservatives to support a variety of policies and practices.
The liberal New Right, by contrast, adopts an atomistic view of society that is based on the assumption that human beings are self-seeking and largely self-reliant creatures. This view differs substantially from the organicist view, as society consists only of a collection of independent individuals and their families, implying that ‘there is no such thing as society’. Such ‘rugged’ individualism implies that society should afford individuals the greatest possible scope to make their own moral decisions and accept their consequences. However, the conservative New Right remains essentially faithful to the organic model. Its emphasis on the importance of authority, established values and national identity is based on organic assumptions.
Much traditional conservative views on society are based amongst tradition. Tradition refers to ideas, practices or institutions that have endured through time and have therefore been inherited from earlier periods. Tradition therefore creates continuity between the past, the present and the future. The issues of tradition and continuity have deeply divided conservatives. Traditional conservatives have placed strong stress on the importance of tradition and continuity, while the New Right, particularly the liberal New Right, has often rejected tradition and continuity.
Traditional conservatives have extolled the virtues of tradition in a number of ways. For some conservatives, tradition reflects religious faith, being fashioned by God the Creator. Traditional institutions and practices therefore constitute ‘natural law’. A more widely held view portrays tradition as the accumulated wisdom of the past. The institutions and practices of the past have been ‘tested by time’, and should be preserved for the benefit of the living and for generations to come. In this view, society consists of a partnership between the living, those who are dead and those who are to be born. It has also been described as a ‘democracy of the dead’, reflecting the fact that the dead will always outnumber the living. A third advantage of tradition and continuity is that they help to generate, for both society and the individual, a sense of identity. Established customs and practices are ones that individuals can recognise; they are familiar and reassuring. Tradition thus provides people with a feeling of ‘rootedness’ and belonging. Such an emphasis on tradition has meant that traditional conservatives have usually venerated established institutions and been at least cautious about change. Change is a journey into the unknown: it creates uncertainty and insecurity.
The New Right has significantly revised the relationship between conservatism and tradition, however. The New Right attempts to fuse economic libertarianism with state and social authoritarianism. As such, it is a blend of radical, reactionary and traditional features. Its radicalism is evident in its robust efforts to dismantle or ‘roll back’ interventionist government and liberal social values. This radicalism is clearest in relation to the liberal New Right, which draws on rational theories and abstract principles, and so dismisses tradition. New Right radicalism is nevertheless reactionary in that both the liberal and conservative New Right hark back to a 19th century ‘golden age’ of supposed economic prosperity and moral fortitude. However, the conservative New Right also makes an appeal to tradition, particularly through its emphasis on so-called ‘traditional values’.
Tradition refers to values, practices and institutions that have been passed down from one generation to the next, and so ensures continuity with the past. A belief in tradition and continuity is basic to conservative ideology, stemming from both the idea that history and past experience provide a surer guide to present conduct than do reason and analysis (tradition is the accumulated wisdom of the past), and that tradition ensures rootedness and maintains social stability. The belief in traditionalism has encouraged Conservatives to adopt a cautious attitude towards change, except in circumstances where change is unavoidable or serves the interest of the status quo (change in order to conserve).
However, the emphasis on tradition within conservatism has been greatly revised as a result of the rise of the New Right, and especially the liberal New Right. This is because it is rooted in a liberal rationalism that implies a critical approach to existing institutions and practices, and so, at times, can support radical reform. On the other hand, the conservative New Right can be said to reflect a greater emphasis on tradition, especially in relation to traditional values.
By Zivai Campbell