Can Conservatism Internationalize? The Case of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship

• In Event: Transformations of Right Wing Politics

Abstract

With the rise of national populism, as well as other new developments like China’s growing influence, scholars have called for more study of emerging “ideological alternatives” to the liberal “global culture” that has dominated post-war international discourse. This study responds to that call by exploring the possibility that conservative discourse can be internationalized. Liberalism tends to be highly universalistic, and thus readily internationalized. But can conservatism, defined by its defense of particularistic societal traditions, also be internationalized? This study examines the case of a broadly conservative-leaning international initiative called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), to learn how ARC has articulated conservative ideas for an international audience. ARC, which seeks to “tell a better story,” is an interesting case, because of its attempt to articulate a holistic (rather than a single-issue-focused), internationally-applicable vision, and also because of its high level of elite buy-in. This study’s analyses are based on document analysis, interviews, and observation of ARC’s founding conference in 2023, which was attended by elite invitees from 73 countries. The study finds that ARC articulated a partially internationalized conservatism that transcended some but not all national and religious boundaries. To the extent that it was conservative, ARC’s discourse emphasized a need for the preservation/revival of positive aspects of Western culture and civilization, and/or for guidance by “Judeo-Christian” values and perhaps Judeo-Christian religiosity. These messages were potentially applicable by religious and secular conference attendees from Western countries, and by Christian attendees from non-Western countries (including some from sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia). But much of ARC’s conservative discourse was not as readily applicable outside these world-regional and religious boundaries. Results from the case of ARC are suggestive, more broadly, regarding conservatism’s potential for internationalization.

Author

• Louisa Roberts, USD