Right-Wing Shift in Working Class Priorities Towards Cultural Battles
In the modern political landscape, cultural identities have become the focus of divisions, overshadowing economic concerns. The shift towards cultural politics, characterized by status battles and recognition, offers little tangible improvement to people's material conditions. Although it has bolstered women's rights and minority representation, the culturalization of politics presents risks, including the dilution of material concerns like wages and social security.
The worker, traditionally defined by economic conditions, has been reimagined as a cultural identity. Two narratives dominate contemporary discourse: one rooted in the United States, which emphasizes cultural belonging, and the other, historically dominant in Europe, which focuses on material positions. The cultural perspective, reflected in self-identification surveys, categorizes workers based on their occupation and the color of their collars — distinguishing between blue-collar and white-collar workers. This flexible definition can lead to confusing results, such as labeled champions of the working class who do not represent their interests.
Alternatively, the materialist, Marxist view considers a worker as someone dependent on those who control the means of production, with no ownership of resources required for survival. This economic perspective is crucial for understanding the structural dependency of workers, as opposed to viewing them through a cultural lens. Though the differences between blue- and white-collar workers may seem significant, the core of their dependency remains the same.
The misconception that the political right represents the working class arises from the confusion caused by the cultural definition. Diverting attention from material concerns to cultural recognition dilutes the struggle for economic justice. The cultural battle for status masks the true structural inequalities, leading to a hollow anti-elitism that does not rectify workers' material circumstances.
The concept of the working class has been overlooked or dismissed under neoliberalism, which rebrands economic classes as "social layers" or individual aspirants for social mobility. Intriguingly, the political right has reintroduced the term "worker," albeit stripped of its material connotations, as a populist cultural figure. This romanticized portrayal ignores workers' structural dependency and power imbalances, offering a politically toothless solution to their needs.
The rise of the MAGA movement and similar populist forces reflects a rejection not of economic power but of cultural elites. Their redistribution of cultural capital, intended to level the cultural field, has contributed to the estrangement between the left and working-class communities. However, the solution lies not in abandoning material politics in favor of a cultural struggle but in addressing both dimensions simultaneously.
Political scientist Justus Seuferle, working for European Institutions, has explored these issues in his personal writings. His work underscores the importance of understanding the culturalization of politics to foster a more equitable and economically conscious political discourse. The connection between the working class and the capitalist class remains rooted in economic realities, and the left must continue to fight for workers' material interests while adapting to non-bourgeois and non-urban cultural contexts.
- Economic inequality persists as a significant but often overshadowed concern, despite the focus on cultural identities in contemporary politics.
- The shift towards cultural politics has led to a skewed job-search landscape, where personal-growth and career-development opportunities are lighted over general-news and policy-and-legislation discussions related to wages and social security.
- Skills-training programs that focus on economic self-sufficiency have diminished in the face of education-and-self-development initiatives that prioritize cultural awareness and identity.
- The discourse around migration is influenced by cultural politics, with little attention being paid to the economic aspects of mobility, such as job opportunities or income disparities.
- Addressing economic concerns requires a balanced approach that considers both the cultural aspects of worker representation and the structural inequalities created by war-and-conflicts and powerful economic entities, not just a cultural battle for status.
