> [Interesting. Clink on link for explanatory chart]
>
> The recession is eroding alienation
>
> http://www.principiadialectica.co.uk/blog/?p=3126
>
> Figures for the UK population, show that over the last three years, of
> economic austerity, people have come to feel more positive about their
> communities.
>
> OK, collectivisation (or even an Arab Spring) is still a fair way off!
> Plus, there is the real negative of people deciding to ‘protect’ their
> communities against others. But it does demonstrate that changes in
> material conditions are changing attitudes associated with social
> alienation.
That was Habermas's argument about legitimation crises. When crises threw the legitimacy of the economy and government into question, people responded by seeking to shore up their identities. This led to what people called new or identity social movements on one hand, which could have progressive elements, but to identity formations and movements that sought to find comfort in group identities that were conservatizing, culturally and politically.
shag
-- http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)