Introduction: Looking at Conservativism from Multiple Perspectives

The present chapter deals with the theoretical underpinnings of defining conservativism. In the past, conservativism was defined in a rather ideological manner with the following topoi: importance of strong rules and punishments; militarism, ethnocentrism, and intolerance against any minorities; religious dogmatism; preference for conventional art, clothes, and institutions; resistance against scientific knowledge; and anti-hedonism. These thematic fields were then translated into a questionnaire and linked to specific political outcomes. Yet, those theoretical pillars are in stark contradiction to other thematic approaches to the notion of conservativism that feature the preservation of meaningful activities in the domain of one’s family, work, and friends. That in mind, the conservative-minded attitude relies on traditions and norms in those domains that help oneself to anticipate the next present—unknown—moment. This approach was left unnoticed by the research community but remains an important contribution to the wholistic study of the conservative phenomenon that is then translated into the operational definition of a conservative culture.