Neotraditionalism (politics)

In politics and sociology, neotraditionalism is an approach using the deliberate application of old practices and institutions, modified to accommodate the modern context (this accommodation contrasts with primordialism).

Neotradition
Neotraditionalists assert that the interaction between the state and society (governance, application of law, etc.) should take into account the cultural memory of the local population. Neotraditions can be invented outright with the purpose of creation of a new group identity thus being useful in the times of rapid changes in the society. As an example, Eric Hobsbawn offers the new Scottish national identity centered around Ossian, kilts, and bagpipes. This identity replaced in the 18th century the old feudal cohesion that was deteriorating under the pressure of urbanization and changes in the class system. Jonathan Friedman suggests that neotraditionalism is the opposite of modernism, rising up in the moments of crisis of the latter (such crises per Friedman are inevitable due to the need of the constant expansion required by modernism to simply maintain the stability). Traditional identity is something that one can rely on in times of crisis, providing an easily accessible set of rules for living and a medium for connection with others.

Communist neotraditionalism
Political scientists' use of the term varies. In particular, Communist neotraditionalism is used to describe a mix of modern and traditional elements in the USSR and other Communist countries, where the success of an individual to large extent depended on the archaic patron-client relations (including "blat"). The characterization of USSR as neo-traditionalist was pioneered by Ken Jowitt in 1983. A similar approach towards China was taken by Andrew Walder in his "Communist Neo-Traditionalism" (1988), where the communist neotraditionalism was defined as a "distinctly modern" fusion of communist institutions and personal patron/client ties. Matthew Lenoe and Terry Martin made the deep advances in research of the neotraditionalism in application to the Soviet history.

Radical neotraditionalism
When discussing the politics of religion, radical neotraditionalism is used as a more neutral term to describe the non-Protestant fundamentalism.