How to Avoid the Culture War Trap: Lessons from USA on What NOT to Do

The world is becoming increasingly polarised. Whether it’s in the US, Europe or even Southeast Asia, which includes Malaysia, the increasing polarisation has often led to a focus on hot-button cultural issues at the expense of substantive policy discussions centred around political economy and class struggle. This phenomenon is known as the ‘culture wars.’ 

The culture wars can take many forms. In the US, the culture wars these days tend to centre around abortion rights, transgender bathrooms and Critical Race Theory. In Malaysia, the culture wars which have amped up dramatically since GE15 often revolve around the LGBTQ community and the sensitivities of Islam. 

But what are the consequences of falling into the culture war trap? And how can we avoid it?

We speak to Peter Beattie, a political psychologist and political economist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). 

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