Analysis of the differences between traditionalism and conservatism as exemplified by the Luddites movement

Анализ различий между традиционализмом и консерватизмом на примере луддитского движения

Podolskiy, Vadim (Подольский, Вадим) ()
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Podolskiy, Vadim (Подольский, Вадим): Russian Academy of Sciences

Sotsium i vlast / Society and power, 2018, 28-40

Abstract: Introduction. This study compares traditionalism and conservatism as political ideologies. Traditionalism conceptual framework is derived from the analysis of the Luddites movement experience and views of French authors that belonged to the age of the Great French revolution. The author states that conservatism and traditionalism have profound differences, despite being close to each other in political spectrum. The Luddites movement is studied as an example of an ideological conflict. This issue is relevant in our time for two reasons. First, changes in economy and automatization create risks for the labor market. Second, due to migration in both Europe and Russia, conservative or liberal political environment meets, on the one hand, active, and on the other — relatively isolated groups which hold traditionalistic views, which can lead to valuesbased conflicts. It is therefore quite important to study logics of traditionalism in order to preserve the cultural identity of members of the society and to avoid damage to existing social institutions and relations. Aims. The present study is focused on identification of distinctive features of traditionalism, extraction of key principles of this ideology from the views of the Luddites movement participants, correlating them with the general context of the political philosophy 1 The work has been executed with the support from RFBR. Grant number 17-33-00060-ОГН а1. of that time. Existing scientific papers usually view Luddism in light of changing economic affairs, while the present study tends to analyze the movement as a landmark in political philosophy reconstruction process. Traditionalism is examined as one of ideologies that opposes liberalism. Methods. Discourse analysis was used in order to summarize attitudes of the Luddites, articles of that age were studied. Content-analysis was used for thorough examination of the ideas of the traditionalists. Comparative historical method was used to place traditionalism and conservatism against each other. Scientific novelty of the study: 1) a systematic comparison of traditionalism and conservatism as two ideologies is offered; 2) texts of the French thinker, L. de Bonald, were never translated into Russian, their examination is valuable for Russian science; 3) Luddites movement is analyzed not only within the context of changing economic affairs, but also in light of political ideologies and the realm of politics being redefined. Results. Ideas of the movement members are summarized as a set of formulas: static and sacred social order, perception of a community, not a class or a person, as a political actor, understanding craft as a unique art, and placed against conservative ideas. This comparison will be of interest for a Russian reader to develop an understanding of how exactly the new, capitalistic way of thinking, which determined the further development of the mankind, formed. Conclusion. Studying Luddism, despite the phenomenon being local, has a value for forecasting the society’s reaction to significant changes in economic affairs. Traditionalism is a kind of a political utopia, based upon an idea of a “golden age” in the past. Conservatism is a working political ideology which not only adapted to social and economic changes of the last two centuries, but determined their dynamics as well.

Keywords: Luddism; traditionalism; conservatism; political ideology; de Bonald; individualism; modernization; British political philosophy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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