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Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism.[1][2] Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutions, such as traditional family structures, gender roles, sexual relations, national patriotism, and religious traditions.[3][4] Social conservatism is usually skeptical of social change, instead tending to support the status quo concerning social issues.[4]
Social conservatives also value the rights of religious institutions to participate in the public sphere, thus often supporting government-religious endorsement and opposing state atheism, and in some cases opposing secularism.[5][6][7]
Social conservatism, as a movement, is largely an outgrowth of traditionalist conservatism. The key difference is that traditional conservatism is broader and includes philosophical considerations, whereas social conservatism is largely focused on just moralism.
- ^ Wiener, Jonathan (Spring 1973). "Review: The Politics of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 3 (4). MIT Press: 791–793. doi:10.2307/202704. JSTOR 202704.
- ^ Cooper, Melinda (2019). Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism. Zone Books.
- ^ Smith, Robert B. (2014). Harry F. Dahms (ed.). Social Conservatism, Distractors, and Authoritarianism: Axiological versus instrumental rationality. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 9781784412227.
- ^ a b "Social Conservatism". Populism Studies. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
- ^ Dean, John W. (11 July 2006). Conservatives Without Conscience. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 77. ISBN 9781101201374.
- ^ Wald, Kenneth D.; Calhoun-Brown, Allison (2007). Religion and Politics in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 240. ISBN 9780742540415.
- ^ Booten, Matthew (11 May 2020). "19 different types of conservatives". Politic-Ed.
Social conservatism often opposes state-atheism, however not necessarily atheism itself. They believe that if we allow states to stop believing in God, that societal order will simply break down as a result.