What will change with Biden in cultural terms?

Joe Biden's triumph in the US elections will change the political scene, but also the cultural one. From Nueva Sociedad, they mention that, although at present the importance has been reduced, almost always what happens in the United States has repercussions in Latin America, because many of the cultural agendas that happen in that country are then “imported” towards others countries.

In this same sense, the El País website wonders what will change with Biden for the world of culture. By taking a political turn, it is likely that, over time, society may be transformed through cultural changes that then reach the rest of the planet. Let's see, then, what is expected of the culture and society with the Democratic presidency of Biden.

The cultural change that Biden implies

The first thing to do is contextualize not only Biden, but the Democratic Party itself. The New York Times website mentions that, within the political platform, he will seek to give greater importance to the coronavirus than that proposed by the Republican Party of President Donald Trump.

In cultural terms, the health system could be important for the Biden government, but also what awareness of the problem implies. Previously, Trump had downplayed the effects of the virus, but Joe Biden's triumph will imply a change of perspective for the coronavirus, probably appealing more to social conscience.

However, not all views are unified. On the contrary, Voz Pópuli believes that there are “cracks in the democratic cultural discourse”, because, in recent times, the democrats betrayed the blue collars (skilled workers) to defend the white collars (middle and senior cadres).

In sociocultural terms, there seems to be an idea that the winner will always be the same: Wall Street. Democratic relations with this sector seem to be a continuation of the Republicans, although it is also true that the Democrats have made a historic bet on the lower classes, despite the changes in recent times.

Relations with the Church seem to follow the same path. On Pagína 12 they indicate that Pope Francis spoke by phone with Joe Biden and congratulated him on the electoral result, so everything seems to indicate that the good relationship between the two countries will continue. However, recent progressive thinking by Democrats could, at the same time, generate some twists and turns.

In Infobae they mention that Joe Biden is the second Catholic in the White House, so the relationship with the Church could be even stronger. However, he also has a particular vision of abortion, since he is in favor of the decriminalization of abortion. In this way, his progressive stance in this sense could generate new changes at the societal level, due to a turn from Trump's conservative vision.

In RFI they indicate that, anyway, Biden is a "conservative democrat", a favorite of the independents. It is a political profile that moves away from Trump's extravagances, at a time when Americans are seeking "normality." This could imply, at the same time, new confidence in the politics of the North American country, where party splits are avoided and a kind of political pact of confidence is generated for its first months.

Also read: What are Biden's main promises to Latinos?

The question will be to see how prepared Biden is to maintain the twists and turns between those who expect him to be a progressive president and those who seek centrism. For this reason, from CTXT they indicate that, although he defends progressive values, most leftist groups could ask him for more actions than he is thinking of doing in cultural terms.

Another important issue, for the BBC, is international politics and climate change, something that would be widely favorable to improve relations with China and avoid xenophobia, but also to generate cultural awareness about the impact of the industry on the planet. Therefore, the victory of the democrat would imply new values and points of view on these issues.

Finally, Antena3 reported that the Democrats gathered to celebrate Joe Biden's victory in the plaza of the Black Lives Matter protests, which took place in Washington. Unlike Trump, Biden could be key to avoiding violence and racism present in the United States, trying to change the thinking of the population towards pacifism. For the moment, it will be necessary to see if it manages to achieve these cultural changes and, in any case, evaluate whether these can spread to our region.