The Crisis of Culture: Identity Politics and the Empire of Norms Hardcover

Are we confronting a new culture―global, online, individualistic? Or is our existing concept of culture in crisis, as explicit, normative systems replace implicit, social values?

Olivier Roy’s new book delves into today's fractures by examining the extension of individual political and sexual freedoms from the 1960s. For Roy, twentieth-century youth culture disconnected traditional political protest from class, region, or ethnicity, creating an identity based on repudiation rather than the inheritance of shared history or values. Under neoliberalism and the internet, this youth culture has evolved into something increasingly individualised and ersatz.

Key insights from Roy’s analysis:

• Without a shared culture, everything transforms into an explicit code dictating how to speak and act, often in online spaces.
• Identities are now defined by socially fragmenting personal traits, fostering affinity-based sub-cultures that seek safe spaces:
  • Universities for the left.
  • Gated communities and hard borders for the right.

Increased references to ‘identity’ by both left- and right-wing groups fail to address the deeper crisis of culture and community. Roy argues that our only viable solution is to restore social bonds at the grassroots or citizenship level.