Title: What motivates cultural progressives? : understanding opposition to the political and Christian right /
Authors: Yancey, George A., 1962-; Williamson, David A., 1955-; Williamson, David, 1955-
Publisher: Baylor University Press,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Right and left (Political science) United States.; Progressivism (United States politics); United States Social conditions; United States Politics and government
Abstract: For too long, George Yancey and David Williamson argue, the role of cultural progressive activists in facilitating the modern culture wars has been ignored by scholars and seldom critiqued by the public. In What Motivates Cultural Progressives? Yancey and Williamson describe and analyze the multifaceted cultural progressive movement and its place within the larger American society. What they uncover is a collective identity informed by staunch opposition to cultural conservatives - both political and religious - that is motivated by the progressive activist's preference for absolute rationality. However, Yancey and Williamson argue that despite great resistance to conservatives' purportedly nonrational appeals, progressive activists are found to use their own irrational techniques when seeking to establish their movement and position their cause as socially legitimate. With often surprising and likely controversial findings, What Motivates Cultural Progressives? is thought-provoking reading for understanding the political influence of activism. -- from dust jacket.
Contents: The culture war in the United States -- Dynamics of social movements and cultural progressives -- Developing a typology of cultural progressives -- Political concerns and cultural progressives -- General opposition to religion in cultural progressives -- Cultural progressives and critics of Christianity -- The framing of cultural progressivism -- Cultural progressives and the continuing culture war.