Thomas Prosser

Thomas Prosser, reader in European social policy at Cardiff University and author of What’s in it for me? Self-interest and political difference (2021), examines why political debate has grown so bitter and how recognising legitimate self-interest on all sides can lower the temperature. He argues that political positions are deeply embedded in economic circumstances and cultural needs rather than simple stupidity or malice, and that cultural conservatism in particular often reflects a basic human desire for security and closure in a rapidly changing world. Prosser contends that the left has largely failed to apply the same empathetic understanding to Western cultural conservatives that it readily extends to traditional communities elsewhere, while moralising and judgmentalism have become more pronounced on the progressive side. He explores how liberalism has historically struggled to prioritise redistribution, making issues such as immigration politically attractive because they signal openness without seriously disrupting economic hierarchies. Class, he notes, has been crowded out by cultural and identity concerns, weakening the left’s historic link with lower-income voters. Meanwhile, the political space itself is realigning, with parties of the right increasingly combining cultural conservatism and economic interventionism in ways that appeal to poorer and less-educated electors. Prosser highlights the growing social stratification that leaves people rarely encountering genuine opponents, encouraging crude stereotypes and tribal thinking, and calls for greater willingness to acknowledge nuance, shared constraints and the legitimacy of competing interests if liberal democracies are to remain functional.