TheEuropean New Right (ENR) not to be confused with theNew Right (like theNew Right in South Korea and other New Right movements which are forcapitalism) is afar-right movement which originated in France as theNouvelle Droite in the late 1960s byAlain de Benoist. Its proponents are involved in a global "anti-structural revolt" againstmodernity andpost-modernity, largely in the form of loosely connected intellectual communities striving to diffuse a similar philosophy within European societies.[1]
ENR leaders are generally opposed toliberalism,individualism,egalitarianism, and thenation-state. Endorsing acommunitarian andorganicistworldview, they advocate the concept of aThird Position and the concept ofethnopluralism, which they describe as a global project opposed tomulticulturalism where collective identities would coexist peacefully within separated geographical and political spaces.[2] They do not share, however, a standard and collective political agenda regarding the regime or institutions that should be adopted. Instead of seeking direct electoral results, ENR leaders promote their ideas via a common "metapolitical" practice of politics, in order to eventually achievecultural hegemony and popular adhesion to their ideas.[3]
The European New Right has influenced the ideological and political structure of theIdentitarian Movement.[4][5][6] Part of thealt-right also claims to have been inspired byAlain de Benoist's writings, arguably the most influential figure of the movement.[7]
The European New Right (ENR) emerged in France from theNouvelle Droite, an intellectual movement linked to theethno-nationalist think tankGRECE, established in 1968 byAlain de Benoist andDominique Venner. The original prominence of the French nucleus has declined over the decades, and the movement now appears in the form of a European network of various groups, parties and intellectuals, all sharing ideological similarities and affinities between each other.[2] Among them are theNeue Rechte inGermany,New Right (defunct) in theUnited Kingdom,Nieuw Rechts (defunct) and Deltastichting in theNetherlands andFlanders,Forza Nuova inItaly,Imperium Europa inMalta, Nova Hrvatska Desnica inCroatia, orNoua Dreapta in Romania.[8] In Italy, the Nueva Destra emerged from the initiative of a group of young members of the neo-fascist partyItalian Social Movement.[9] In the 1980s, de Benoist's ideas were introduced and promoted in West Germany by Neue Rechte philosopherArmin Mohler.[10]
The ENR has gone through several re-syntheses since its emergence in the late 1960s. The last attempt at a common doctrine dates back to the manifesto "The New Right in the year 2000". Its leading ideas were "the critique ofliberalism and of thecommodification of the world; the rejection ofindividualism; an attachment to anorganicist andcommunitarian view of society; the rejection ofegalitarianism and of the various forms ofmonotheism from which it arose; the promotion of well-rootedcollective identities and of the "right to difference"; the rejection of thenation-state as a form and the promotion of afederalist model that applies the principle ofsubsidiarity; and a view of international relations based on the idea of amulti-polar world in which Europe would be endowed with its own nationhood, apart from Americanomnipotence, which is designated the chief enemy of the European peoples."[2]
While the term 'New Right' refers to an intellectual movement that emerged from several political organizations in France in 1968, it is sometimes confused with other terms such as theAlternative Right or Alt-Right. These political groups share common themes, such as a strong emphasis onnationalism and nationalist values, a critique ofegalitarian principles found in central and left-leaning political ideologies, and a call to recognize individual differences, which are frequently classified by ethnic or civilizational distinctions.[11]
According toJean-Yves Camus andNicolas Lebourg, the core idea of the ENR is their rejection of the "eradication of cultural identities", which has been caused in the ENR worldview by the principles ofstandardization andegalitarianism inherent to the concept ofhuman rights. Alain de Benoist denounces the "ideology of sameness" as the idea that both commodities and human beings are increasingly seen as identical and interchangeable.[2] According to him, the "greatest" danger in the world at the moment is the "progressive disappearance of diversity from the world", including biodiversity of animals, cultures and peoples.[12] New Right thinkerTomislav Sunić emphasizedOswald Spengler's influence on the ENR, especially his assumption that mankind does not exist as such, that "each culture passes through various cycles", and that the concept ofuniversal history is a non-sense, as there are only a "plurality of histories and their unequal distribution in time and space."[13]
ENR thinkers believe that the West is living in an "interregnum" that will sooner or later give way to a new era in which their worldview would thrive. According toRoger Griffin, they developed, in response to this apparent post-fascist "parenthesis", a worldview founded on a "maze-way re-synthesis" of old and new ideological and ritual elements, combined in a "palingeneticmetanarrative". The current political order is portrayed as needing to be abandoned or purged of its impurity, so that the "redemptive community" can leave the phase of liminal crisis to usher in the new era. Additionally, ENR leaders frequently invoke a legendary and mythical past they want to symbolically re-ground in the new society about to emerge, not in a spirit of nostalgia for the return of an ancientgolden age, but rather "to create a rooted futurity, a new reality re-established on firm metaphysical foundations."[1] This idea is particularly embodied in the concept of archeofuturism promoted byGuillaume Faye.[14]
Some ENR thinkers, who belong to theVölkisch leaning of the movement,[15] highlight race and ethnicity as the core dimensions of their concept of "identity". This has led to violent rejection of "difference", Faye calling for a "total ethnic war",[16] andPierre Vial for an "ethnic revolution" and a "war of liberation".[15][17]
Roger Griffin and Tamir Bar-On argue that the ENR is at the origin of a subtle strategy to reinvent the general framework of fascism while preserving the original fascistworld view and ideas. They compare the metapolitical stance of ENR leaders to the strategy advocated byneo-fascist thinkerMaurice Bardèche in his 1961 bookWhat is Fascism?, where he averred that fascism could survive the 20th century in a new guise:[18]
The famous fascist methods are constantly revised and will continue to be revised. More important than the mechanism is the idea which fascism has created for itself of man and freedom. […] With another name, another face, and with nothing which betrays the projection from the past, with the form of a child we do not recognize and the head of a young Medusa, the Order of Sparta will be reborn: and paradoxically it will, without doubt, be the last bastion of Freedom and the sweetness of living.
— Maurice Bardèche,Qu’est-ce que le fascisme? (Paris: Les Sept Couleurs, 1961), pp. 175–176.
According to historianRoger Woods,Neue Rechte philosopherArmin Mohler "illustrates the New Right tendency to separate what it regards as a pure version of fascism from the various attempts to put it into practice. He uncouples what he calls 'fascist style' from historical fascism, and on the basis of this distinction declares: 'I am a fascist'".[19]
De Benoist has deliberately prioritized ideas and intellectual conversation above active political activity, declaring, "The value of an idea is not defined by its designation. Ideas do not have a set party-political residency. Thismetapolitical approach has had a considerable impact on current populist movements that want to move beyond traditional "right-wing" and "left-wing" designations to engage in alternative conversations. For most of the twentieth century, the New Right's policy of rejecting normal political techniques and popular ideas kept them on the intellectual edges. However, the introduction of the internet as a way of disseminating information has aided the wider transmission and rising impact of New Right beliefs. With the internet's ability to swiftly and widely disseminate information, parties like the Alt-Right have been able to accept and modify New Right ideologies. As a result, the internet has increased the exposure and effect of New Right views, allowing them to interact and combine with Alt-Right platforms.[11]
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