culture war

From culture + war, originally as a calque of German Kulturkampf.

culture war (plural culture wars)

1. (rare) A political struggle for control over cultural institutions.
2. Conflict between different ideological groups, especially political conflict for cultural dominance between liberals and conservatives in the United States.
   • 2015, Chris Lehmann, ‘The Candidates’, London Review of Books, vol. 37 no. 12:

     Bush’s other accomplishments in office include […] prolonging the life of the severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo in a cynical bid to burnish his culture wars résumé.

Often used in the plural, as “the culture wars”. Mostly used to refer to conflict in the 1980s onward, with the 1960s referred to as a different generation.