culture wars
Values-based political battles
Culture wars refers to ongoing political and social conflicts over values, morality, and identity—particularly around issues like abortion, religion, sexuality, race, and education.
The term frames these disputes as warfare between opposing worldviews, typically conservative and progressive: The culture wars have intensified since the 1990s.
School board meetings became a new front in the culture wars.
Preference for existing institutions
- liberalismPhilosophy valuing reform, tolerance
- progressivismPhilosophy advocating societal reform
- traditionalismAdherence to inherited customs
- feminismAdvocacy for sex equality
nationalism · secularism · fundamentalism · multiculturalism · populism · libertarianism · wokeness · religious right
Separation into opposing extremes
- divisionSplitting into parts
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
- battlegroundLocation of armed combat
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
schism · rift · friction · hostility · discord · animosity · confrontation · tension
Self-reinforcing information environment
- talk radioBroadcast discussion format
- cable newsSubscription television journalism
- social mediaOnline content-sharing platforms
- viralSpreading quickly online
clickbait · misinformation · pundit · commentator · Fox News · MSNBC · algorithm · influencer
Ending a pregnancy
- immigrationRelocating abroad permanently
- gun controlFirearm ownership restrictions
- LGBTQ rightsProtections for sexual minorities
- affirmative actionPrograms boosting marginalized representation
school curriculum · critical race theory · religious freedom · free speech · transgender rights · marriage equality · prayer in schools · Confederate monuments
conservatism
Preference for existing institutions
- liberalismPhilosophy valuing reform, tolerance
- progressivismPhilosophy advocating societal reform
- traditionalismAdherence to inherited customs
feminism · nationalism · secularism · fundamentalism · multiculturalism · populism · libertarianism · wokeness · religious right · social conservatism
polarization
Separation into opposing extremes
- divisionSplitting into parts
- clashViolent disagreement or collision
- battlegroundLocation of armed combat
controversy · schism · rift · friction · hostility · discord · animosity · confrontation · tension · disagreement
echo chamber
Self-reinforcing information environment
- talk radioBroadcast discussion format
- cable newsSubscription television journalism
- social mediaOnline content-sharing platforms
viral · clickbait · misinformation · pundit · commentator · Fox News · MSNBC · algorithm · influencer · platform
abortion
Ending a pregnancy
- immigrationRelocating abroad permanently
- gun controlFirearm ownership restrictions
- LGBTQ rightsProtections for sexual minorities
affirmative action · school curriculum · critical race theory · religious freedom · free speech · transgender rights · marriage equality · prayer in schools · Confederate monuments · mask mandates
- 1990sMonica Lewinsky, impeachment, NAFTA, Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing
- censorshipbanned books, censored, banned, book banning, book bans
- political conflictpolarization, partisanship, left vs right, faction, sectarianism
- polarizationpolarizer, divide, polarized light, divisiveness, polarizing filter
- outrage culturerage bait, outrage porn, outrage cycle, viral outrage, virtue signaling
- American ChristianityBaptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians
culture warssocial cohesion
Group unity and belonging
social harmony · national unity · common ground · shared values · reconciliation
culture warsbipartisanship
Cooperation between political rivals
civil discourse · depolarization · bridge-building · political cooperation · comity
culture, cultured, warrior, warfare, agriculture, wars, multicultural, warmonger, culturally