Conservatism and social change; tradition, authority and continuity in the modern landscape

Introduction

Conservatism is a response to change, so the question about how it addresses the challenges of social change goes to the heart of the doctrine. The question also asks for a critical analysis of its emphasis on tradition, authority and continuity in modern politics. The tradition is listed in Unit III of the syllabus.

Meaning and background of conservatism

Conservatism rests on a defence of traditional institutions and practices. The word was popularised in 1818 when Chateaubriand named his journal Le Conservateur, and the doctrine took shape in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a reaction to the pace of economic and political change set off by the French Revolution. It gives weight to what has been historically inherited over what is abstract and ideal, takes an organic view of society, as a living body of interdependent members rather than a heap of individuals, and holds that government should serve the existing ways of life. It differs from reaction, which wants to restore an order that has become outmoded: the conservative wishes to preserve what exists, the reactionary to roll back.

Writers on conservatism distinguish three usages: temperamental (a disposition to resist disruptive change, resting on habit, inertia, fear and emulation), situational (opposition to disruptive change in the social, legal, religious or political order) and political (the defensive aspirations of parties and movements that value inherited morality and tested institutions). Rossiter notes that the word is as useful as it is confusing.

Conservatism: challenges of change and criticism

How conservatism answers social change. Conservatives do not deny change; they distrust it. Because human beings are imperfect and the consequences of an action cannot be foreseen, it is hard to know that a given change will be an improvement, so it is resisted until it becomes inevitable and then accepted gradually. Their rule is to reform in order to conserve, to prefer small and slow adjustment to revolution, and to remedy a defect rather than pursue an abstract ideal. In the modern setting this attitude has real merits: it warns against social engineering that ignores local customs; it values continuity of institutions, the rule of law and the sense of belonging that tradition gives; and it argues that liberty is stronger when tied to duty and order.

Criticisms. (1) It tends to legitimise the status quo and defend the interests of elites. (2) Its acceptance of hierarchy and inequality and its claim that equality is a myth clash with democratic and egalitarian aims; ideas such as gender justice find no favour with it. (3) It can slide into the reactionary outlook that it formally rejects. (4) Appeal to tradition cannot decide whose tradition counts, since tradition is also contested; and whatever has survived the test of time includes practices like caste or exclusion that have rightly been challenged. (5) Its attitude to authority, religion and prejudice clashes with the liberal emphasis on reason and autonomy. (6) It is so broad that it risks being vague.

Characteristic features of conservatism

1. History and tradition. Tradition is the accumulated wisdom of the past, tested by time; Burke's picture of society as a partnership of the living, the dead and the unborn expresses this, and tradition is, in the words of Chesterton, a "democracy of the dead". (2) Human imperfection, prejudice and reason. People are imperfect, dependent and fearful of instability, suspicious of abstract ideas and guided more by experience and settled belief than by reason; imparted theoretical knowledge is distrusted in favour of learnt experience. (3) Organic society, liberty and equality. Individuals belong to society and owe it duties; liberty is not a matter of being left alone but the willing acceptance of social obligations, and a hierarchical, differentiated order is natural, so levelling is resisted. (4) Authority and power. Order requires authority, which develops naturally from social functions, and conservatives value leadership, discipline and, in the paternalist tradition, a government that acts as a father-figure. (5) Property. Property gives security, confidence and a stake in order, and is almost an extension of personality. (6) Religion and morality. Religion supplies the moral fabric of society, a kind of social cement, and a check on unbounded independence.

Russell Kirk's six canons restate the creed: divine intent rules society, variety and mystery are preferred to uniformity, civilised society needs orders and classes, property and freedom are connected, human appetite must be restrained, and change is not the same thing as reform, so change must be slow.

Tradition, authority and continuity in the modern landscape

Tradition. The modern political landscape is plural, and the conservative claim that tradition is accumulated wisdom has force where continuity of institutions (a constitution, a legal system, a civil service) steadies a society. But it also needs to be asked whose tradition: modern democracies hold contested traditions, and appeals to tradition have been used to resist the claims of women, Dalits and minorities. Authority. Conservatives defend leadership and discipline, and a measure of authority is necessary in any order. But modern democratic thought requires that authority be justified by consent and accountable, and legitimacy is lost when authority rests only on force. Continuity. The preference for gradual and organic change can prevent the damage of revolution, as Burke feared; against this, injustices such as caste or gender inequality would not have been addressed if change had been left to slow evolution.

Conclusion

Conservatism addresses social change by asking that it be gradual, tested and respectful of what exists. Its emphasis on tradition, authority and continuity gives it a lasting place as a corrective to rash innovation, but its defence of hierarchy and inequality limits its appeal in democracies that seek equality. It is most useful when it is a temper of caution, not a bar to reform.