Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a
political
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
and
social philosophy
Social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social contexts for political, legal, moral and cultur ...
that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited
natural law
Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...
s to which it is claimed society should adhere. It is one of many different forms of
conservatism
Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...
. Traditionalist conservatism, as known today, is rooted in
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
's political philosophy, as well as the similar views of
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
, who designated the
rationalist rejection of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
during previous decades as being directly responsible for the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
which followed the
French Revolution. Traditionalists value
social ties and the preservation of ancestral institutions above what they perceive as excessive
rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...
and
individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...
. One of the first uses of the phrase "conservatism" began around 1818 with a
monarchist
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...
newspaper named "''Le Conservateur''", written by
Francois Rene de Chateaubriand with the help of
Louis de Bonald.
The modern concepts of
nation
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...
,
culture
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
,
custom,
convention, religious roots,
language revival
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...
, and
tradition
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...
are heavily emphasized in traditionalist conservatism.
Theoretical reason is regarded as of secondary importance to
practical reason. The
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
is also viewed as a social endeavor with spiritual and
organic characteristics. Traditionalists think that any positive change arises based within the
community
A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
's traditions rather than as a consequence of seeking a complete and deliberate break with the past.
Leadership
Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations.
"Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
,
authority
Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people.
In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...
, and
hierarchy
A hierarchy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy ...
are seen as natural to humans. Traditionalism, in the forms of
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, ...
, the
Counter-Enlightenment and early
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
, arose in Europe during the 18th century as a backlash against
the Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a European intellectual and philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained through rationalism and empirici ...
, as well as the
English and
French Revolutions. More recent forms have included early
German Romanticism
German Romanticism () was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German vari ...
,
Carlism
Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
, and the
Gaelic revival
The Gaelic revival () was the late-nineteenth-century national revival of interest in the Irish language (also known as Gaelic) and Irish Gaelic culture (including folklore, mythology, sports, music, arts, etc.). Irish had diminished as a sp ...
. Traditionalist conservatism began to establish itself as an intellectual and political force in the mid-20th century.
Key principles
Religious faith and natural law
A number of traditionalist conservatives embrace
high church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
(e.g.,
T. S. Eliot, an
Anglo-Catholic
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...
;
Russell Kirk, a Roman Catholic;
Rod Dreher
Ray Oliver Dreher Jr. (born February 14, 1967), known as Rod Dreher, is an American conservative writer and editor living in Hungary. He was a columnist with ''The American Conservative'' for 12 years, ending in March 2023, and remains an edito ...
, an
Eastern Orthodox Christian
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
). Another traditionalist who has stated his faith tradition publicly is
Caleb Stegall, an
evangelical Protestant
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian ...
. A number of conservative mainline Protestants are also traditionalists, such as
Peter Hitchens
Peter Jonathan Hitchens (born 1951) is an English Conservatism in the United Kingdom, conservative author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator. He writes for ''The Mail on Sunday'' and was a Foreign correspondent (journalism), foreign cor ...
and
Roger Scruton
Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...
, and some traditionalists are Jewish, such as the late
Will Herberg
William Herberg (June 30, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was an American writer, intellectual, and scholar. A communist political activist during his early years, Herberg gained wider public recognition as a social philosopher and sociologist of relig ...
,
Irving Louis Horowitz
Irving Louis Horowitz (September 25, 1929 – March 21, 2012) was an American sociologist, author, and college professor who wrote and lectured extensively in his field. He proposed a quantitative index for measuring a country's quality of life, a ...
,
Mordecai Roshwald,
Paul Gottfried
Paul Edward Gottfried (born November 21, 1941) is an American paleoconservative political philosopher, historian, and writer. He is a former Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He is editor-in-chief of the paleocon ...
and
Eva Brann.
Natural law
Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...
is championed by
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
in the ''
Summa Theologiae.'' There, he affirms the principle of
noncontradiction ("the same thing cannot be affirmed and denied at the same time") as being the first principle of theoretical reason, and ("good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided") as the first principle of practical reason, or that which precedes and determines one's actions. The account of
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
Christian philosophy
Christian philosophy includes all philosophy carried out by Christians, or in relation to the religion of Christianity.
Christian philosophy emerged with the aim of reconciling science and faith, starting from natural rational explanations wit ...
is the appreciation of the concept of the ''
summum bonum
''Summum bonum'' is a Latin expression meaning the highest or ultimate good, which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero to denote the fundamental principle on which some system of ethics is based—that is, the aim of actions, which, ...
'' or "highest good". It is only through the silent
contemplation
In a religious context, the practice of contemplation seeks a direct awareness of the Divinity, divine which Transcendence (religion), transcends the intellect, often in accordance with religious practices such as meditation or contemplative pr ...
that someone is able to achieve the idea of the
good
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...
. The rest of natural law was first developed somewhat in
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
's work, also was referenced and affirmed in the works by
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, and it has been developed by the Christian
Albert the Great
Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...
. This is not meant to imply that traditionalist conservatives must be Thomists and embrace a robustly Thomistic natural law theory. Individuals who embrace non-Thomistic understandings of natural law rooted in, e.g., non-Aristotelian accounts affirmed in segments of Greco-Roman, patristic, medieval, and Reformation thought, can identify with traditionalist conservatism.
Tradition and custom
Traditionalists think that
tradition
A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...
and
custom should guide man and his worldview, as their names imply. Each generation inherits its ancestors' experience and culture, which man is able to transmit down to his offspring through custom and precedent.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
, noted that "the individual is foolish, but the species is wise." Furthermore, according to
John Kekes
John Kekes (; born 22 November 1936) is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Education
Kekes received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the Australian National University.
Work
Kekes is the author of a number of books on ...
, "tradition represents for conservatives a continuum enmeshing the individual and social, and is immune to reasoned critique." Traditional conservatism typically prefers
practical reason instead of
theoretical reason.
Conservatism, it has been argued, is based on living tradition rather than abstract political thinking. Within conservatism, political journalist
Edmund Fawcett argues the existence of two strains of conservative thought, a flexible conservatism associated with
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
(which allows for limited reform), and an inflexible conservatism associated with
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
(which is more reactionary).
Within flexible conservatism, some commentators may break it down further, contrasting the "pragmatic conservatism" which is still quite skeptical of abstract theoretical reason, vs. the "rational conservatism" which does not have skepticism of said reason, and simply favors some sort of hierarchy as sufficient.
Hierarchy, organicism, and authority
Traditionalist conservatives believe that human society is essentially
hierarchical
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...
(i.e., it always involves various interdependent inequalities, degrees, and classes) and that political structures that recognize this fact prove the most just, thriving, and generally beneficial. Hierarchy allows for the preservation of the whole community simultaneously, instead of protecting one part at the expense of the others.
Organicism
Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Emb ...
also characterizes conservative thought. Edmund Burke notably viewed society from an organicist standpoint, as opposed to a more mechanistic view developed by liberal thinkers. Two concepts play a role in organicism in conservative thought:
* The internal elements of the organic society cannot be randomly reconfigured (similar to a living creature).
* The organic society is based upon natural needs and instincts, rather than that of a new ideological blueprint conceived by political theorists.
Traditional authority
Traditional authority is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a regime is largely tied to tradition or custom. Reasons for the given state of affairs include belief that tradition is inherently valuable and a more g ...
is a common tenet of conservatism, albeit expressed in different forms.
Alexandre Kojève
Alexandre Kojève (born Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kozhevnikov; 28 April 1902 – 4 June 1968) was a Russian-born French philosopher and international civil service, civil servant whose philosophical seminars had some influence on 20th-century Frenc ...
distinguished between two forms of traditional authority: the father (fathers, priests, monarchs) and the master (aristocrats, military commanders). Obedience to said authority, whether familial or religious, continues to be a central tenet of conservatism to this day.
Integralism and divine law
Integralism, typically a Catholic idea but also a broader religious one, asserts that faith and religious principles ought to be the basis for public law and policy when possible. The goal of such a system is to integrate religious authority with political power. While integralist principles have been sporadically associated with traditionalism, it was largely popularized by the works of
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
.
Agrarianism
The countryside, as well as the values associated with it, are greatly valued (sometimes even being romanticized as in pastoral poetry).
Agrarian ideals (such as conserving small family farms, open land, natural resource conservation, and land stewardship) are important to certain traditionalists' conception of rural life.
Louis de Bonald wrote a short piece on a comparison of the agriculturalism to industrialism.
Family structure
The importance of proper family structures is a common value expressed in conservatism. The concept of traditional morality is often coalesced with
familialism and
family values
Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...
, being viewed as the bedrock of society within traditionalist thought. Louis de Bonald wrote a piece on marital dissolution named "On Divorce" in 1802, outlining his opposition to the practice. Bonald stated that the broader human society was composed of three subunits (religious society - the church, domestic society - the family, public society - the state). He added that since the family made up one of these core categories, divorce would thereby represent an assault on the social order.
Morality
Morality, specifically traditional
moral
A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...
values, is a common area of importance within traditional conservatism, going back to Edmund Burke. Burke believed that a notion of sensibility was at the root of man's moral intuition. Furthermore, he theorized that divine moral law was both transcendent and immanent within humans.
Moralism
Moralism is a philosophy that arose in the 19th century that concerns itself with imbuing society with a certain set of morals, usually traditional behaviour, but also "justice, freedom, and equality". It has strongly affected North American and ...
, as a movement largely still exists within mainstream conservative circles with a focus on inherent or
deontological
In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek language, Greek: and ) is the normative ethics, normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a ...
suppositions. While moral discussions exist across the political aisle, conservatism is distinct for including notions of purity-based reasoning. The type of morality attributed to Edmund Burke is referred to some as moral traditionalism.
Communitarianism
Communitarianism
Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...
is an ideology that broadly prioritizes the importance of the community over the individual's freedoms.
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
was notably against individualism, and blamed Rousseau's individualism on the destructive nature of the French revolution. Some may argue that the communitarian ethic has considerable overlap with the conservative movement, although they remain distinct. While communitarians may draw upon similar elements of moral infrastructure to make their arguments, the communitarian opposition to liberalism is still more limited than that of conservatives. Furthermore, the communitarian prescription for society is more limited in scope than that of
social conservatives
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instit ...
. The term is typically used in two different senses; philosophical communitarianism which rejects liberal precepts and atomistic theory, vs. ideological communitarianism which is a syncretistic belief that holds in priority the positive right to social services for members of said community. Communitarianism may overlap with
stewardship
Stewardship is a practice committed to ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, places, property, information ...
, in an environmental sense as well.
Social order
Social order
The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social orde ...
is a common tenet of conservatism, namely the maintenance of
social ties, whether the family or the law. The concept may also tie into
social cohesion
Group cohesiveness, also called group cohesion, social harmony or social cohesion, is the degree or strength of bonds linking members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it ...
. Joseph de Maistre defended the necessity of the public executioner as encouraging stability. In the ''
St Petersburg Dialogues'', he wrote: "all power, all subordination rests on the executioner: he is the horror and the bond of human association. Remove this incomprehensible agent from the world, and the very moment order gives way to chaos, thrones topple, and society disappears."
The concept of social order is not exclusive to conservatism, although it tends to be fairly prevalent within it. Both Jean Jacques Rousseau and Joseph de Maistre believed in social order, the difference was that Maistre preferred the status quo, indivisibility of law and rule, and the mesh of Church with State. Meanwhile, Rousseau preferred social contract and the ability to withdraw from such (and pick the ruler) as well as a separation of Church and state. Furthermore, Rousseau went on the criticize the "cult of the state" as well.
Classicism and high culture
Traditionalists defend classical
Western civilization and value an education informed by the sifting of texts starting in the
Roman World and refined under
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
Scholasticism
Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Ca ...
and
Renaissance humanism. Similarly, traditionalist conservatives are
Classicist
Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
s who revere
high culture
In a society, high culture encompasses culture, cultural objects of Objet d'art, aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers represen ...
in all of its manifestations (e.g.
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
Classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
,
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
,
art
Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
, and
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
).
Localism
Traditionalists consider
localism a core principle, described as a sense of devotion to one's homeland, in contrast to nationalists, who value the role of the state or nation over the
local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
community. Traditionalist conservatives believe that allegiance to family, local community, and region is often more important than political commitments. Traditionalists also prioritize community closeness above nationalist state interest, preferring the
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.[nationalism
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...]
can easily be radicalized and lead to
jingoism
Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inte ...
, which sees the state as apart from the local community and family structure rather than as a product of both.
An example of a traditionalist conservative approach to immigration may be seen in Bishop
John Joseph Frederick Otto Zardetti's September 21, 1892 "Sermon on the Mother and the Bride", which was a defence of Roman Catholic
German-American
German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry.
According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...
s desire to preserve their faith, ancestral culture, and to continue speaking their
heritage language
A heritage language is a minority language (either immigrant or indigenous) learned by its speakers at home as children, and difficult to be fully developed because of insufficient input from the social environment. The speakers grow up with a ...
of the
German language in the United States
Over 50 million Americans claim German ancestry, which made them the largest single claimed ancestry group in the United States until 2020. Around 1.06 million people in the United States speak the German language at home. It is the second m ...
, against both the
English only movement and accusations of being
Hyphenated Americans
In the United States, the term hyphenated American refers to the use of a hyphen (in some styles of writing) between the name of an ethnicity and the word in compound nouns, e.g., as in . Calling a person a "hyphenated American" was used as ...
.
History
British influences
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
, an Anglo-Irish
Whig statesman and philosopher whose political principles were rooted in moral natural law and the Western heritage, is one of the first expositors of traditionalist conservatism, although
Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
ism represented an even earlier, more primitive form of traditionalist conservatism. Burke believed in prescriptive rights, which he considered to be "God-given". He argued for what he called "
ordered liberty" (best reflected in the unwritten law of the British constitutional monarchy). He also fought for universal ideals that were supported by institutions such as the church, the family, and the state. He was a fierce critic of the principles behind the
French Revolution, and in 1790, his observations on its excesses and radicalism were collected in ''
Reflections on the Revolution in France
''Reflections on the Revolution in France'' is a political pamphlet written by the British statesman Edmund Burke and published in November 1790. It is fundamentally a contrast of the French Revolution to that time with the unwritten Constitutio ...
''. In ''Reflections'', Burke called for the constitutional enactment of specific, concrete rights and warned that abstract rights could be easily abused to justify tyranny. American social critic and historian
Russell Kirk wrote: "The ''Reflections'' burns with all the wrath and anguish of a prophet who saw the traditions of Christendom and the fabric of civil society dissolving before his eyes."
Burke's influence was felt by later intellectuals and authors in both Britain and continental Europe. The English Romantic poets
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
,
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
and
Robert Southey
Robert Southey (; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic poetry, Romantic school, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth an ...
, as well as Scottish Romantic author
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
, and the counter-revolutionary writers
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who influenced French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Bri ...
,
Louis de Bonald and
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
were all affected by his ideas. Burke's legacy was best represented in the United States by the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...
and its leaders, such as President
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
and Secretary of the Treasury
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
.
French influences
Joseph de Maistre
Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, diplomat, and magistrate. One of the forefathers of conservatism, Maistre advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immedi ...
, a French lawyer, was another founder of conservatism. He was an
ultramontane Catholic, and thoroughly rejected progressivism and rationalism. In 1796, he published a political pamphlet entitled, ''
Considerations on France'', that mirrored Burke's ''
Reflections''. Maistre viewed the French revolution as "evil schism", and a movement premised on the "sentiment of hatred". After the demise of Napoleon, Maistre returned to France to meet with pro-royalist circles. In 1819, Maistre published a piece called ''Du Pape'' which outlined the Pope as the key sovereign, unto which authority derives from.
Critics of material progress
Three
cultural conservatives and
skeptics of material development,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
,
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...
, and
John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...
, were staunch supporters of Burke's classical conservatism.
According to conservative scholar Peter Viereck, Coleridge and his colleague and fellow poet
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
began as followers of the
French Revolution and the radical utopianism it engendered. Their collection of poems, ''Lyrical Ballads'', published in 1798, however, rejected the
Enlightenment notion of reason triumphing over faith and tradition. Later works by Coleridge, such as ''Lay Sermons'' (1816), ''Biographia Literaria'' (1817) and ''Aids to Reflection'' (1825), defended traditional conservative positions on hierarchy and organic society, criticism of materialism and the merchant class, and the need for "inner growth" that is rooted in a traditional and religious culture. Coleridge was a strong supporter of social institutions and an outspoken opponent of
and his
utilitarian
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
theory.
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...
, a writer, historian, and essayist, was an early traditionalist thinker, defending medieval ideals such as aristocracy, hierarchy, organic society, and class unity against communism and ''
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...
''
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
's "cash nexus." The "cash nexus," according to Carlyle, occurs when social interactions are reduced to economic gain. Carlyle, a lover of the poor, claimed that mobs, plutocrats, anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, and others were threatening the fabric of British society by exploiting them and perpetuating class animosity. A devotee of Germanic culture and
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
, Carlyle is best known for his works, ''
Sartor Resartus
''Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in Three Books'' is a novel by the Scottish people, Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in November 1833 ...
'' (1833–1834) and ''
Past and Present'' (1843).
The
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...
, a religious movement aimed at restoring Anglicanism's Catholic nature, gave the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
a "catholic rebirth" in the mid-19th century. The
Tractarians (so named for the publication of their ''
Tracts for the Times'') criticized
theological liberalism while preserving "dogma, ritual, poetry,
ndtradition," led by
John Keble,
Edward Pusey, and
John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...
. Newman (who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845 and was later made a Cardinal and a canonized saint) and the Tractarians, like Coleridge and Carlyle, were critical of material progress, or the idea that money, prosperity, and economic gain constituted the totality of human existence.
Cultural and artistic criticism
Culture and the arts were also important to British traditionalist conservatives, and two of the most prominent defenders of tradition in culture and the arts were
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...
and
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
.
A poet and cultural commentator,
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...
is most recognized for his poems and literary, social, and religious criticism. His book ''Culture and Anarchy'' (1869) criticized Victorian middle-class norms (Arnold referred to middle class tastes in literature as "
philistinism") and advocated a return to ancient literature. Arnold was likewise skeptical of the plutocratic grasping at socioeconomic issues that had been denounced by Coleridge, Carlyle, and the Oxford Movement. Arnold was a vehement critic of the Liberal Party and its Nonconformist base. He mocked Liberal efforts to disestablish the Anglican Church in Ireland, establish a Catholic university there, allow dissenters to be buried in Church of England cemeteries, demand temperance, and ignore the need to improve middle class members rather than impose their unreasonable beliefs on society. Education was essential, and by that, Arnold meant a close reading and attachment to the cultural classics, coupled with critical reflection. He feared anarchy—the fragmentation of life into isolated facts that is caused by dangerous educational panaceas that emerge from materialistic and utilitarian philosophies. He was appalled at the shamelessness of the sensationalistic new journalism of the sort he witnessed on his tour of the United States in 1888. He prophesied, "If one were searching for the best means to efface and kill in a whole nation the discipline of self-respect, the feeling for what is elevated, he could do no better than take the American newspapers."
One of the issues that traditionalist conservatives have often emphasized is that capitalism is just as suspect as the
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited governmen ...
that gave birth to it. Cultural and artistic critic
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
, a medievalist who considered himself a "Christian communist" and cared much about standards in culture, the arts, and society, continued this tradition. The
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, according to Ruskin (and all 19th-century cultural conservatives), had caused dislocation, rootlessness, and vast urbanization of the poor. He wrote ''The Stones of Venice'' (1851–1853), a work of art criticism that attacked the Classical heritage while upholding Gothic art and architecture. ''The Seven Lamps of Architecture'' and ''Unto This Last'' (1860) were two of his other masterpieces.
One-nation conservatism
Burke, Coleridge, Carlyle, Newman, and other traditionalist conservatives' beliefs were distilled into former British Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...
's politics and ideology. When he was younger, Disraeli was an outspoken opponent of middle-class capitalism and the Manchester liberals' industrial policies (the Reform Bill and the Corn Laws). In order to ameliorate the suffering of the urban poor in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, Disraeli proposed "
one-nation conservatism
One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a form of British political conservatism and a variant of paternalistic conservatism. It advocates the "preservation of established institutions and traditional pri ...
," in which a coalition of aristocrats and commoners would band together to counter the liberal middle class's influence. This new coalition would be a way to interact with disenfranchised people while also rooting them in old conservative principles. Disraeli's ideas (especially his critique of
utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
) were popularized in the "Young England" movement and in books like ''Vindication of the English Constitution'' (1835), ''The Radical Tory'' (1837), and his "social novels," ''
Coningsby'' (1844) and ''Sybil'' (1845). His one-nation conservatism was revived a few years later in
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British aristocrat and politician. Churchill was a Tory radical who coined the term "One-nation conservatism, Tory democracy". He participated in the creation ...
's Tory democracy and in the early 21st century in British philosopher
Phillip Blond's
Red Tory
A Red Tory is an adherent of a Centre-right politics, centre-right or Paternalistic conservatism, paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition. It is most predominant in Canada; however, it is also found in the ...
thesis.
Distributism
In the early 20th century, traditionalist conservatism found its defenders through the efforts of
Hilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...
,
G. K. Chesterton and other proponents of the socioeconomic system they advocated:
distributism
Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princi ...
. Originating in the papal encyclical ''
Rerum novarum
''Rerum novarum'', or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, passed to all Catholic patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, which addressed the condi ...
'', distributism employed the concept of
subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsid ...
as a "third way" solution to the twin evils of communism and capitalism. It favors local economies, small business, the agrarian way of life and craftsmen and artists. Otto von Bismarck implemented one of the first modern welfare systems in Germany during the 1880s. Traditional communities akin to those found in the Middle Ages were advocated in books like Belloc's ''The Servile State'' (1912), ''Economics for Helen'' (1924), and ''An Essay on the Restoration of Property'' (1936), and Chesterton's ''The Outline of Sanity'' (1926), while big business and big government were condemned. Distributist views were accepted in the United States by the journalist
Herbert Agar and Catholic activist
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...
as well as through the influence of the German-born British economist
E. F. Schumacher
Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (16 August 1911 – 4 September 1977) was a German-born British statistician and economist who is best known for his proposals for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies.Biography on the inner dust ...
, and were comparable to
Wilhelm Roepke's work.
T. S. Eliot was a staunch supporter of Western culture and traditional Christianity. Eliot was a political reactionary who used literary modernism to achieve traditionalist goals. Following in the footsteps of
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
,
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...
,
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
,
G. K. Chesterton, and
Hilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...
, he wrote ''After Strange Gods'' (1934), and ''Notes towards the Definition of Culture'' (1948). At Harvard University, where he was educated by
Irving Babbitt
Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative tho ...
and
George Santayana
George Santayana (born Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised and educated in the Un ...
, Eliot was acquainted with
Allen Tate
John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Among his best known works are the poems " Ode to th ...
and
Russell Kirk.
T. S. Eliot praised
Christopher Dawson as the most potent intellectual influence in Britain, and he was a prominent player in 20th-century traditionalism. The belief that religion was at the center of all civilization, especially Western culture, was central to his work, and his books reflected this view, notably ''The Age of Gods'' (1928), ''Religion and Culture'' (1948), and ''Religion and the Rise of Western Culture'' (1950). Dawson, a contributor to Eliot's ''
Criterion'', believed that religion and culture were crucial to rebuilding the West after World War II in the aftermath of
fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
and the advent of
communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
.
In the United Kingdom
Philosophers

Roger Scruton, a British philosopher, was a self-described traditionalist and conservative. One of his most well-known books, ''The Meaning of Conservatism'' (1980), is on foreign policy, animal rights, arts and culture, and philosophy. Scruton was a member of the
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...
, the
Institute for the Psychological Sciences
The Institute for the Psychological Sciences (IPS) is a graduate school of psychology and an integral part of Divine Mercy University (DMU) in Loudoun County, Virginia, Sterling, Virginia. The institute was founded in 1999 with the mission of bas ...
, the
Trinity Forum, and the
Center for European Renewal. ''
Modern Age
The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...
'', ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'', ''
The American Spectator'', ''
The New Criterion
''The New Criterion'' is a New York–based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Roger Kimball (editor and publisher) and James Panero (executive editor). It has sections for criticism of poetry ...
'', and ''
City Journal'' were among the many publications for which he wrote.
Phillip Blond, a British philosopher, has recently gained notoriety as a proponent of traditionalist philosophy, specifically progressive conservatism, or
Red Tory
A Red Tory is an adherent of a Centre-right politics, centre-right or Paternalistic conservatism, paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition. It is most predominant in Canada; however, it is also found in the ...
ism. Blond believes that Red Toryism would rejuvenate
British conservatism and society by combining civic
communitarianism
Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...
,
localism, and traditional values. He has formed a think tank,
ResPublica.
Publications and political organizations
The oldest traditionalist publication in the United Kingdom is ''
The Salisbury Review
''The Salisbury Review'' is a quarterly United Kingdom, British "magazine of Conservatism, conservative thought". It was founded in 1982 by the Salisbury Group, who sought to articulate and further traditional intellectual conservative ideas.
The ...
'', which was founded by British philosopher
Roger Scruton
Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...
. The ''Salisbury Review''s current managing editor is Merrie Cave.
A group of traditionalist MPs known as the
Cornerstone Group was created in 2005 within the
British Conservative Party. The Cornerstone Group represents "faith, flag, and family" and stands for traditional values.
Edward Leigh
Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gainsborough, previously Gainsborough and Horncastle, since 1983. Parliament's longes ...
and
John Henry Hayes are two notable members.
In Europe
The
Edmund Burke Foundation is a traditionalist educational foundation established in the Netherlands and is modeled after the
Intercollegiate Studies Institute. It was created by traditionalists such as academic
Andreas Kinneging and journalist
Bart Jan Spruyt
Dr. Bastian Jan "Bart Jan" Spruyt (born 29 January 1964, in Ridderkerk) is a Dutch historian, journalist and conservatism, conservative writer. He is opinion editor for CNE.news.
Early life and education
Spruyt grew up in Rotterdam, Netherlands, ...
as a think tank. The
Center for European Renewal is linked with it.
In 2007, a number of leading traditionalist scholars from Europe, as well as representatives of the Edmund Burke Foundation and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, created the
Center for European Renewal, which is designed to be the European version of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
In the United States

The
Federalists had no ties to European-style nobility, royalty, or organized churches when it came to "classical conservatism."
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
was one of the first champions of a traditional
social order
The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social orde ...
.
The
Whig Party had an approach that mirrored Burkean conservatism in the post-Revolutionary era.
Rufus Choate argued that lawyers were the guardians and preservers of the Constitution. In the antebellum period,
George Ticknor and Edward Everett were the "Guardians of Civilization." Orestes Brownson examined how America satisfies Catholic tradition and Western civilization. The Southern Agrarians, or Fugitives, were another group of traditionalist conservatives. In 1930, some of the Fugitives published ''I'll Take My Stand'', which applied agrarian standards to politics and economics.
Following WWII, the initial stirrings of a "traditionalist movement" emerged. Certain conservative scholars and writers garnered the attention of the popular press.
Russell Kirk's ''The Conservative Mind'', an expansion of his PhD dissertation written in Scotland, was the book that defined the traditionalist school. Kirk was an independent scholar, writer, critic, and man of letters. He was friends with William F. Buckley Jr., a ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'' columnist, editor, and syndicated columnist. When Barry Goldwater combated the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Eastern Establishment in 1964, Kirk backed him in the primaries and campaigned for him. After Goldwater's defeat, the New Right reunited in the late 1970s and found a new leader in Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan created a coalition of libertarians, foreign-policy rightists, business conservatives, as well as Christian social conservatives and maintained his power by solidifying a newer form of conservative alliance that would continue to dominate the political landscape of the American conservatism to this day.
Political organizations
The
Trinity Forum, Ellis Sandoz's Eric Voegelin Institute and the Eric Voegelin Society, the Conservative Institute's New Centurion Program, the T. S. Eliot Society, the Malcolm Muggeridge Society, and the Free Enterprise Institute's Center for the American Idea are all traditionalist groups. The Wilbur Foundation is a prominent supporter of traditionalist activities, particularly the Russell Kirk Center.
Literary
Literary traditionalists are frequently associated with political conservatives and the right wing, whilst Experimental literature, experimental works and the avant-garde are frequently associated with Progressivism, progressives and the left wing. John Barth, a postmodern writer and literary theorist, said: "I confess to missing, in apprentice seminars in the later 1970s and the 1980s, that lively Make-It-New spirit of the Buffalo Sixties. A roomful of young traditionalists can be as depressing as a roomful of young Republicans."
[John Barth (1984) intro to ''The Literature of Exhaustion'', in ''The Friday Book''.]
James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Russell Lowell, W. H. Mallock, Robert Frost and
T. S. Eliot are among the literary figures covered in
Russell Kirk's ''The Conservative Mind'' (1953). The writings of Rudyard Kipling and Phyllis McGinley are presented as instances of literary traditionalism in Kirk's ''The Conservative Reader'' (1982). Kirk was also a well-known author of spooky and suspense fiction with a Gothic flavor. Ray Bradbury and Madeleine L'Engle both praised novels such as ''Old House of Fear'', ''A Creature of the Twilight,'' and ''Lord of the Hollow Dark'' as well as short stories such as "Lex Talionis", "Lost Lake", "Beyond the Stumps", "Ex Tenebris," and "Fate's Purse." Kirk was also close friends with a number of 20th-century literary heavyweights, including
T. S. Eliot, Roy Campbell (poet), Roy Campbell, Wyndham Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Madeleine L'Engle, Fernando Sánchez Dragó, and Flannery O'Connor, all of whom wrote conservative poetry or fiction.
Evelyn Waugh, J.R.R. Tolkien, and
G. K. Chesterton – British novelists and traditionalist Catholics – are often considered traditionalist conservatives.
Traditionalism: between the past and the present
nytimes.com With regard to both literature and cultural revival among speakers of Celtic languages, the same argument can be made for Saunders Lewis, Máirtín Ó Direáin, John Lorne Campbell, and Margaret Fay Shaw.
See also
* Christian democracy
* Communitarianism
Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...
* Counter-Enlightenment
* Corporatism
* Distributism
* High Tories
* Historical school of economics
* Integralism
* Localism (politics)
* Monarchism
* National conservatism
* Natural order (philosophy)
* Neoauthoritarianism (China)
* New humanism (literature), New Humanism
* New traditionalism
* Organicism
Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Emb ...
* Paleoconservatism
* Philosophical naturalism
* Red Tory
A Red Tory is an adherent of a Centre-right politics, centre-right or Paternalistic conservatism, paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition. It is most predominant in Canada; however, it is also found in the ...
* Regionalism (politics), Regionalism
* Right-wing authoritarianism
* Royalism
* Social conservatism
* Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
* Tory (political faction)
* Traditionalism (Spain)
References
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
Articles
"Understanding Traditionalist Conservatism"
by Mark C. Henrie. ''The New Pantagruel'', formerly published in ''Varieties of Conservatism in America'', Peter Berkowitz, Ed. (Hoover Press, 2004) .
General references
* Allitt, Patrick (2009) ''The Conservatives: Ideas and Personalities Throughout American History''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
* Critchlow, Donald T. (2007) ''The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made Political History''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
* Dunn, Charles W., and J. David Woodard (2003) ''The Conservative Tradition in America''. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
* Edwards, Lee (2004) ''A Brief History of the Modern American Conservative Movement''. Washington, D.C.: Heritage Foundation.
* Frohnen, Bruce, Jeremy Beer, and Jeffrey O. Nelson (2006) ''American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Gottfried, Paul, and Thomas Fleming (1988) ''The Conservative Movement''. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
* Nash, George H. (1976, 2006) ''The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America since 1945''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Nisbet, Robert (1986) ''Conservatism: Dream and Reality''. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
* Alfred S. Regnery, Regnery, Alfred S. (2008) ''Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism''. New York: Threshold Editions.
* Viereck, Peter (1956, 2006) ''Conservative Thinkers from John Adams to Winston Churchill''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
By the New Conservatives
* Bestor, Arthur (1953, 1988) ''Educational Wastelands: The Retreat from Learning in Our Public Schools''. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
* Boorstin, Daniel (1953) ''The Genius of American Politics''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Chalmers, Gordon Keith (1952) ''The Republic and the Person: A Discussion of Necessities in Modern American Education''. Chicago: Regnery.
* Hallowell, John (1954, 2007) ''The Moral Foundation of Democracy''. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Inc.
* Heckscher, August (1947) ''A Pattern of Politics''. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock.
* Kirk, Russell (1953, 2001) ''The Conservative Mind''. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing.
* Kirk, Russell (1982) ''The Portable Conservative Reader''. New York: Penguin.
* Nisbet, Robert (1953, 1990) ''The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom''. San Francisco: ICS Press.
* Smith, Mortimer (1949) ''And Madly Teach''. Chicago:Henry Regnery Co.
* Viereck, Peter (1949, 2006) ''Conservatism Revisited: The Revolt Against Ideology''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
* Vivas, Eliseo (1950, 1983) ''The Moral Life and the Ethical Life''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
* Voegelin, Eric (1952, 1987) ''The New Science of Politics: An Introduction''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Weaver, Richard (1948, 1984) ''Ideas Have Consequences''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Wilson, Francis G. (1951, 1990) ''The Case for Conservatism''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
By other traditionalist conservatives
* Dreher, Rod (2006) ''Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, Gun-loving Organic Farmers, Hip Homeschooling Mamas, Right-wing Nature Lovers, and Their Diverse Tribe of Countercultural Conservatives Plan to Save America (or At Least the Republican Party)''. New York: Crown Forum.
* Frohnen, Bruce (1993) ''Virtue and the Promise of Conservatism: The Legacy of Burke and Tocqueville''. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
* Henrie, Mark C. (2008) ''Arguing Conservatism: Four Decades of the Intercollegiate Review''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Kushiner, James M., Ed. (2003) ''Creed and Culture: A Touchstone Reader''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* MacIntyre, Alaisdar (1981, 2007) ''After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory''. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
* Panichas, George A., Ed. (1988) ''Modern Age: The First Twenty-Five Years: A Selection''. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc.
* Panichas, George A. (2008) ''Restoring the Meaning of Conservatism: Writings from Modern Age''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Roger Scruton, Scruton, Roger (1980, 2002) ''The Meaning of Conservatism''. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine's Press.
* Roger Scruton, Scruton, Roger (2012) ''Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet''. Atlantic Books
About traditionalist conservatives
* Duffy, Bernard K. and Martin Jacobi (1993) ''The Politics of Rhetoric: Richard M. Weaver and the Conservative Tradition''. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press.
* Federici, Michael P. (2002) ''Eric Voegelin: The Restoration of Order''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Gottfried, Paul (2009) ''Encounters: My Life with Nixon, Marcuse, and Other Friends and Teachers''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Kirk, Russell (1995) ''The Sword of Imagination: Memoirs of a Half-Century of Literary Conflict''. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman's Publishing Co.
* Langdale, John., (2012) ''Superfluous Southerners: Cultural Conservatism and the South, 1920–1990''. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
* McDonald, W. Wesley (2004) ''Russell Kirk and the Age of Ideology''. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
* Person, James E. Jr. (1999) ''Russell Kirk: A Critical Biography of a Conservative Mind''. Lanham, MD: Madison Books.
* Russello, Gerald J. (2007) ''The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk''. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
* Scotchie, Joseph (1997) ''Barbarians in the Saddle: An Intellectual Biography of Richard M. Weaver''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
* Scotchie, Joseph (1995) ''The Vision of Richard Weaver''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
* Roger Scruton, Scruton, Roger (2005) ''Gentle Regrets: Thoughts From A Life'' London: Continuum.
* Stone, Brad Lowell (2002) ''Robert Nisbet: Communitarian Traditionalist''. Wilmington, DE: ISI Books.
* Wilson, Clyde (1999) ''A Defender of Conservatism: M. E. Bradford and His Achievements''. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traditionalist Conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism in the United States
Conservatism in the United Kingdom
Criticism of rationalism
Counter-Enlightenment
Toryism
Tradition
Right-wing ideologies