Reactionary modernism is a term first coined byJeffrey Herf[1] in the 1980s to describe the mixture of "great enthusiasm for moderntechnology with a rejection of theEnlightenment and the values and institutions ofliberal democracy" that was characteristic of the GermanConservative Revolutionary movement andNazism.[2] In turn, this ideology of reactionarymodernism was closely linked to the original, positive view of theSonderweg, which saw Germany as the greatCentral European power, neither of the West nor of the East.
Herf's application of the term to describefascism has been widely echoed by other scholars.[3] Herf had used the term to denote a trend in intellectual thought during the era, what German novelistThomas Mann had described as "a highly technological romanticism" during the interwar years. Herf used the term in reference to a wide range of German cultural figures, includingErnst Jünger,Oswald Spengler,Carl Schmitt, andHans Freyer.
Raphael Costa argues that fascism is a modernist movement, as its desire for revolutionary and total projects to remake society could only have emerged in the early 20th century when society and culture were permeated with modernist meta-narratives of cultural renewal. Fascism, in the words of historianModris Eksteins, "was a desire to create mankind anew."[4] David Roberts, in his 2016 bookFascist Interactions, argues that "by now it is widely held that fascism was not some revolt against modernity but the quest for an alternative modernity."[5]
Since Herf created the neologism, it has gained mainstream currency with historians in discussing the paradoxical European enthusiasm for paternalistic authoritarianism andvolkish nationalism on the one hand, and new technological and political concepts on the other hand, all undertotalitarian regimes.[6]
Reactionary modernism has been explored as a theme in the interwar literature and broader political culture of Great Britain.[7] It has been examined in the context of other European countries during the interwar period, including Romania,[8] Greece,[9][10] Sweden,[11] and Spain.[12] It has even been examined in the context of fascism in Japan.[13] Other historians acknowledge the term's recognition of an influential trend in European philosophical, cultural and political thought during the period when fascism was on the rise.[14]Historian Nicolas Guilhot has broadened the scope of reactionary modernism, applying the term to trends inWeimar Republic industry, medicine (eugenics), mass politics, and social engineering.[15] Reactionary modernism can be seen in the fascist concept of theNew Man, as well as in art movements ofWeimar culture that emphasized rationalism and embracedFuturism and theNew Objectivity. Many Weimar period artists rejected the Futurists'fetishization of machinery and violence, for example the proponents ofGerman Expressionism. Despite this, thereturn to order became a dominant theme in German culture and in that of other European countries.
Herf now applies the term to claim similarity to the governments ofIran under the Ayatollahs, the government ofIraq underSaddam Hussein, and extremistIslamist groups such asAl Qaeda.[2] Other scholars, includingPaul Berman, have also applied Herf's term to radical Islamism.[16][17][18][19]
Cultural criticRichard Barbrook argues that members of thedigerati, who adhere to theCalifornian Ideology, embrace a form of reactionary modernism which combineseconomic growth withsocial stratification.[20]
Thomas Rohkrämer criticized the concept of reactionary modernism, arguing "It is simply not strange or 'paradoxical to reject the Enlightenment and embrace technology at the same time', but a common practice in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Germany as well as in many other countries. Instrumental reason and technology are available for an endless number of different purposes, many of which are not humane or enlightened".[21] Support for this view also came fromRoger Griffin, who argued "fascism as anideology andmovement can be seen as proposing a radical alternative to liberal and socialist visions of what form modernity ideally should take. It represents an uncompromising rejection both of thorough-going liberalism and extreme 'modernism', whose logical culmination it sees as relativism, anomie, subjectivism, and the loss of definitive meaning and 'eternal' values. It is an attempt to re-anchor modern human beings within that highly modern phenomenon, the totalitarian state (a term used positively by Fascism) through consciously manipulated historical, national and racist myth (all deeply modern ideological constructs)".[22]
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