Museums like the Wellcome Collection miss the middle ground in the culture wars
In between cancelling and venerating, there is providing context.
ByCulture wars
Culture wars are ideological clashes surrounding cultural and social beliefs between groups, generally divided across the socially conservative and liberal line. The term derives from the German Kulturkampf (‘culture struggle’), referring to the clashes between the Catholic Church and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the late nineteenth century. Find all our latest news, comment and analysis on culture wars here.
How John Cleese became a hero of the right
The Monty Python comic, and latest GB News signing, was once anti-establishment. Now he is merely “anti-woke”.
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The Philip Pullman affair shows social media is where good arguments go to die
The author of His Dark Materials has spoken out against “gesture politics” – but he too adds fuel to the…
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Who could have foreseen that the Festival of Brexit would be a disaster?
It’s tricky to feel celebratory during war, economic crisis and the tail end of a pandemic.
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Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are turning green energy into a culture war
In the face of soaring energy prices, they’re complaining about solar panels on farms.
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What my toddler and I learned at Drag Queen Story Hour
Despite culture-war outrage, children’s events hosted by performers in drag are safe titillation for middle-class parents.
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Mark Haddon: “I’m quite lucky to be alive”
The novelist on his triple heart bypass, literature’s “culture wars”, and why he’s donating book royalties to abortion funds in…
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From morality clauses to sensitivity readers: inside UK publishing’s identity crisis
Is the books world in urgent need of change – or simply running scared of Twitter?
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The Tories are right to debate the trans issue – it’s not a distraction
Labour is dodging an essential discussion.
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Why the departure of Dominic Cummings was the beginning of the end for Boris Johnson
The former chief adviser gave the government purpose. When he left, the painful descent was inevitable.
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But what about the right-wing snowflakes?
Those who revel in pointing out the left’s sensitivity and intolerance are easily triggered themselves.
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Cries of a “woke Wimbledon” show that it can’t avoid the culture wars forever
The All England Club has historically lacked an overt world-view – but this constitutes a world-view in itself.
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UK voters “absolutely sick to death” of the culture wars, says Labour’s Louise Haigh
The Wakefield by-election result showed that the Tories’ “attempts to divide” aren’t working, the shadow transport secretary said at the…
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What Kate Clanchy’s treatment can teach us about racism
If society is inherently racist, how can she be cancelled for not being born woke?
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What the “men don’t read novels” debate gets wrong about fiction
Instead of turning literature into an arena for virtue-signalling and culture wars, let’s make room for complexity, mischief and mess.
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The Washington Post would throw staff under the bus to preserve its brand
Dave Weigel’s suspension is a statement about company culture, not cancel culture.
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How nostalgia fuels the culture wars
In her new book Rule, Nostalgia, Hannah Rose Woods explores how illusory and contested golden ages have haunted Britain since…
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“We’re losing the war against disinformation”: This American Life’s Ira Glass
The host of the influential radio programme and podcast on the success of his show – and competing with Joe…
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New York’s hipster wars
Why the city’s clash of cultures between progressive Brooklyn and transgressive Manhattan marks a new era in American politics.
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Australian Labor’s victory shows how the left can neutralise the culture wars
The new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, successfully argued that Scott Morrison was fixated on reactionary talking points because he had…
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