A new book from Frank Furedi, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR), reinterprets the current culture wars as an outcome of conflicting orientations towards socialisation.
Identity has become a main preoccupation of our time, and 100 Years of Identity Crisis. Culture War Over Socialisation unveils the historical origins of our current crisis of identity and its politicisation in cultural conflicts.
The concept of identity crisis, Professor Furedi shows, came into usage in the 1940s and has continued to dominate the cultural zeitgeist ever since. In his exploration of the historical origins of this development, Professor Furedi argues that the principal driver of the crisis of identity was and continues to be the conflict surrounding the socialisation of young people.
Professor Furedi shows how identity and the crisis that often surrounds it is linked to the confusion that frequently envelops conflicts of values and moral norms. He argues that 21st century cultural conflicts and related disputes over identity are the outcome of forces unleashed by the politicisation of the socialisation of young people in the late 19th century.
Professor Furedi said: ‘In the late 19th century, the belief became prevalent that the demands of economic efficiency and social and political reform required the mobilisation of the idealism and energy of the young. To become truly modern and flexible, it was argued, young people had to be distanced from the traditions and values of the past. To achieve this, old-fashioned moral norms had to be displaced by scientifically authorised values.
‘Challenging and de-legitimating prevailing cultural norms was seen as the precondition for producing enlightened and healthy personalities. Yet, once socialisation was diverted from its traditional goal of transmitting moral norms, its capacity to provide a bond that bound together the different generations was undermined.’
The politicisation of this conflict provided a terrain on which today’s culture wars and the politicisation of identity could flourish. Through exploring the interaction between the problems of socialisation and identity, 100 Years of Identity Crisis offers a unique account of the origins and rise of the Culture Wars.
100 Years of Identity Crisis. Culture War Over Socialisation is published by De Gruyter and available from 7 September 2021.
