Suburban Origins of the Tea Party: Spatial Dimensions of the New Conservative Personality

Abstract

This article explores the hypothesis that the wellsprings of the recent upswing in new conservative movements such as the Tea Party can be found in the socio-spatial context within which individuals are socialized. Non-urban forms of space possess certain social and structural characteristics that can shape styles of moral cognition that in turn lead to conservative predispositions within the personality structure of the individual. Suburban and exurban spaces tend to provide a context for new conservative world-views as a result of the ways social interaction shapes the moral-cognitive style of individuals. Dogmatic moral cognition is shaped by constrained forms of socialization that affect the ways individuals conceive their world and distort certain epistemic capacities. When activated by different forms of social threat or social change, they will be more inclined to turn to conservative movements and ideologies that express their insecurity and social anxieties that are themselves produced by the world-views within which they feel comfort and security.