Are conservative values back among young people?

Résumé du document

An article that was published in ?The Economist' on the 26th of July 2003, deals with an ?upturn in conservatism' among young American people. Indeed, according to this article, more and more students support the republican ideology, and are in favor of US military interventions. However, simultaneously there is a fraction of the citizens who share a tolerant view point about moral issues like homosexual marriage. We may therefore wonder whether this upturn in conservatism can be observed among young people in France, which is presently involved in examining the different meanings of ?conservatism.' From the political point of view, conservatism is often combined with right-wing ideas. This political view point is inclusive of not all the right-wing ideas which are conservative. However it also includes ideas such as nationalism, order, the refusal of innovations, or even a will to return to the past and to traditional values. From a cultural point of view, conservatism highlights traditional values such as marriage (especially religious marriage), family life, religion, and is rather opposed to moral ?innovations', such as abortion or homosexuality. In a nutshell, a conservative person appraises the past and ignores the future and its associated privileges which are existing in all kinds of traditions (i.e. cultural, religious, and political) in a person's life. Is this trend influencing the youngsters in France and are they anxious to adopt this antique tradition? The truth is, we need to understand that the young people are accepting and getting more conservative in the present age. Further, the buzzing thought is the extent to which, this trend can be linked to the evolution of our society.

Extraits

[...] Are conservative values back among young people? An article published in The Economist of July 26th 2003 deals with an "upturn in conservatism" among young American people. Indeed, according to this article, more and more students support the republican ideology, are in favour of US military interventions, but, at the same time, share tolerant points of view about moral issues like homosexual marriage. We may therefore wonder whether this upturn in conservatism can be observed among young people in France, examining the different meanings of "conservatism". [...]

[...] Indeed, if young Americans seem to encourage conservatism (being in favour of republicanism), French young people are not so committed. Of course, on a cultural point of view, the new generation of young people may seem more conservative than the previous one; however, the evolution of our society permits us to question this relative return to conservatism, as far as key concepts such as commitment and liberalism are concerned. Bibliography “Right young things”, The Economist, July 26th 2003 Luc Ferry: les jeunes m'effraient par leur conservatisme interview carried out by Bernard Poulet, in L'expansion, May 31st 2006 LABADIE, Francine, RAGI, Tariq, jeunes et le politique”, in Agora, October-December 2002 PIERSON, Paul, SMITH, Miriam, Bourgeois revolutions? [...]

[...] Is this trend back among young French people? Why can we assert that young people are getting more conservative today? To what extent can this trend be linked to the evolution of our society? First of all, when we examine young people's way of living or behaving today, we have the impression that they look more and more conservative. They seem far less rebellious than their parents when they were their age. Today, more and more young people stay longer at the parental home, as the French movie Tanguy by Etienne Chatilliez shows. [...]

[...] The great majority of young people is in favour of those reforms, as well as it is scarcely opposed to abortion and homosexuality, even in right-wing backgrounds. And if many young people stay longer in the parental home, it is because they study longer and they cannot afford a rent. Thus, if young people are not as libertarian as in the 60's, it is hard to assert that they are conservative, considering the new political and social order. To conclude, we can insist on the contrast between the American situation and the French one. [...]

[...] Yet, if we analyse some of today's social trends, we realise that this conservatism is more an appearance than an actual reality. If young people seem to be more conservative today, this conservatism is relative, and it needs to be balanced in the light of current social realities that characterise our western society. First of all, we live in a society where long-term commitment is less and less observed and applied. People look for more and more flexibility in their everyday life. [...]