Ideological and material disputes allow compromise, but cultural disputes are zero-sum

Evidence

Differences in secular ideology between Marxist-Leninism and liberal democracy can at least be debated if not resolved. Differences in material interest can be negotiated and often settled by compromise in a way cultural issues cannot. Hindus and Muslims are unlikely to resolve the issue of whether a temple or a mosque should be built at Ayodhya by building both, or neither, or a syncretic building that is both a mosque and a temple. Nor can what might seem to be a straightforward territorial question between Albanian Muslims and Orthodox Serbs concerning Kosovo or between Jews and Arabs concerning Jerusalem be easily settled, since each place has deep historical, cultural, and emotional meaning to both peoples. Similarly, neither French authorities nor Muslim parents are likely to accept a compromise which would allow schoolgirls to wear Muslim dress every other day during the school year. Cultural questions like these involve a yes or no, zero-sum choice. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 352

Categorization

• XREF: The Ayodhya, Kosovo, Jerusalem, and headscarf examples recall Maurice Halbwachs and memory-studies work on place sacralization; also echoes ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ moral-panic material on the veil.
• ADDENDUM: The headscarf-as-zero-sum example directly extends ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ — dress restrictions as irreducibly identity-laden, non-negotiable rather than practical.