“For those seeking to understand how we got here—and what we can do now—this is a vital book”
——Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
ON SALE APRIL 23, 2024
James Davison Hunter, who introduced the concept of “culture wars” thirty years ago, tells us in this new book that the historic sources of national solidarity have largely dissolved… READ MORE
Praise for Democracy and Solidarity
“Fresh and challenging...”
“A fresh and challenging interpretation of America in crisis. Hunter has the insight to discern the nihilism pervading our politics, the courage to see its authoritarian consequences, and the wisdom to imagine humane alternatives.”—Jackson Lears, author of Animal Spirits
“Among the most insightful analyses”
“James Davison Hunter’s Democracy and Solidarity is among the most insightful analyses of these bases, the tensions making them unstable, and what it means today that so many so-called leaders have pulled back from working through the challenges.”—Craig Calhoun, coauthor of Degenerations of Democracy
“A vital book...”
“With his characteristic wisdom and acuity, James Davison Hunter has written an important and illuminating work on the cultural roots of our current democratic discontents. For those seeking to understand how we got here—and what we can do now—this is a vital book.”—Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
“A sweeping history...”
“In Democracy and Solidarity, James Davison Hunter offers a sweeping history of the American culture war…extensively researched, extremely engaging, and offers a powerful, clear, and original argument.”—Kathleen Sands, author of America’s Religious Wars: The Embattled Heart of Our Public Life
In 1991, James Davison Hunter became the first to describe what now seems obvious to everyone: that America is deeply divided by a conflict of two moral visions, two tendencies that he called “progressivist” and “traditionalist.” Hunter understood this conflict to be the defining feature of American political and public life. He called it a “culture war.” At its heart, Hunter argued, this cultural conflict was about defining America, its history and prospects for the future. “The power of culture is the power to define reality,” Hunter first said in Culture Wars. Hunter spent about a decade debating other social scientists, most of whom disbelieved his thesis and empirical interpretations. Now more than three decades later, “culture wars” has become the dominant paradigm for understanding American life—both in public and in private, from the academy to popular culture
The Man Who Discovered ‘Culture Wars’
James Davison Hunter coined the phrase in 1991, a year ahead of Pat Buchanan. Now he reflects on how the struggle has evolved over three decades.
–Wall Street Journal
James Davison Hunter Interviewed by CBS Mornings
James Davison Hunter Interviewed by PBS NewsHour
James Davison Hunter Interviewed by Le Figaro
To read the interview translation, click here. To read the interview in French on the Le Figaro site, click here.