Abstracts of Papers
Michael Funk:
Searching for Room at the Inn:
Minority Conservatism and the Critique of Multiculturalism
American conservatism can no longer be viewed as an exclusive domain of wealthy white men. In the last two decades, a distinctive conservative discourse has arisen within communities of color and other cultural groups, and a considerable number of minority thinkers has slowly been awarded access to the corridors of power and public opinion. Welcomed by the conservative establishment, they have joined their mainstream allies in working to repeal race-, culture-, or gender-conscious policies, challenging traditional ideas about the relation between identity and politics. While their emergence has definitely altered the complexion of contemporary conservatism in America, minority conservatives have often aggressively been called upon to provide justification of their political philosophies by people who view their behavior as betrayal. The paper attempts to explore and complicate the "counterrevolutionary effects" of the phenomenon and will take a closer look at some of the strategies associated with its rhetoric, self-representation and background. While the proponents differ on a variety of issues, the history of minority conservatism is inseparably linked to the rise of the New Right and the "culture wars" of the 1980s and 1990s. The right-wing reformulation of the notions of racial politics, assimilation and cultural pluralism provides the basis for both the emancipation and the dilemma of minority conservatives in their quest for space and legitimacy.
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