Slide 1

Navigating between region, nation, and Europe: The French (European) New Rights alternatives to modernity Dr. Tamir Bar-On, Department of International Relations and Humanities, TEC DE MONTERREY, Campus Quertaro, Mexico. Slide 2 Presentation agenda: 1) What is the nouvelle droite (ND- New Right), whom are its key intellectuals, and what do they want? 2) Four conceptual tools for understanding the ND from my Rethinking the French New Right: Alternatives to modernity (Routledge, 2013). 3) The ND and the new faces of ultra-nationalism: Between region, nation, and Europe. 4) What does the ND mean for fascism, anti-fascism, and post-fascism studies? (Why it matters?) Slide 3 1. What is the nouvelle droite? Slide 4 Slide 5 A metapolitical right-wing revolution: Without a precise theory, there is no effective action....All the revolutions have only transposed into facts an evolution that had already occurred in the spirit. One cant have a Lenin before having had Marx....The French right is Leninist without having read Lenin. It hasnt realized the importance of Gramsci. It hasnt seen that cultural power threatens the apparatus of the state. (De Benoist 1979: 19) Slide 6 The NDs modernist mazeway resynthesis (Griffin in Bar-On 2007: xiii) Slide 7 ND credibility problems: Fascism with another name, another face? Accusations of fascism will continue to haunt ND intellectuals until they completely break with authors of the revolutionary right-wing milieux as they provided ideological ammunition for fascist and Nazi regimes in power. (Bar-On 2013: 1) Slide 8 What does the ND want? (Bar-On 2013: 6) 1. De-legitimization of the egalitarian Judaeo- Christian tradition, as well as abolishing its modern, secular derivatives: liberal parliamentary democracy, socialism, communism, social democracy, multiculturalism, and feminism. Slide 9 2. Superseding a de-humanizing, global capitalist market system in which everything has a price and nothing has any value. Slide 10 3. Restoration of a sovereign, re- spiritualized, pagan, federal, and imperial (yet not imperialist) Europe, which challenges the USA as the worlds sole remaining superpower. Slide 11 4. The end of Europes elitist and homogenizing liberal-left policies based on multiculturalism, unfettered immigration, and unrestrained capitalist globalization. Slide 12 5. A Europe of a hundred flags liberated from the excesses of modernity: the assimilationist nation-state, the European Union, global capitalism, liberalism, social democracy, socialism, the USA, and the Westernization of the world. A Europe for Europeans. (Bar-On 2013: 138- 139) Slide 13 Four conceptual tools for understanding the ND (Bar-On 2013): 1) A fascist or quasi-fascist ideology and movement. 2) A challenge to the traditional right-left political dichotomy. 3) An alternative modernist movement (Griffin 2007; Habermas 1990). 4) A variant of political religion (Gentile 2006) and conversionary processes (Girard 2003). Slide 14 3. Navigating between region, nation, and Europe: The ND claims to be anti-nationalist today. It is for a Europe of a hundred flags. It is for a united and federal Europe, which is authoritarian, anti-liberal, anti-capitalist, anti- socialist, and anti-communist. Slide 15 The new ultra-nationalism: Ultra-regionalism The NDs ultra-nationalism is today framed as ultra-regionalism through the notion of a Europe of a hundred flags. Yet, this ultra- regionalism conceives of the rebirth of hundreds of homogeneous ethnically pure states within a larger post-liberal, pan-European framework. (Spektorowski 2007) (Bar-On 2013: 82-83) Slide 16 Region, nation, and Europe for the 21st century: The 21st century will be characterized by the development of a multipolar world of emerging civilizations: European, North American, South American, Arabic-Muslim, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, etc. These civilizations will not supplant the ancient local, tribal, provincial or national roots, but will be constituted as the ultimate collective form with which individuals are able to identify in addition to their common humanity. (De Benoist and Champetier 2000: Section 2, Clause 8) Slide 17 4. Concluding thoughts: Why the ND matters for fascist, anti- fascist, and post-fascist studies? 1. There are different rights. 2. Multiculturalism of the right (Spektorowski 2012). 3. Impact on radical right-wing populist parties. Slide 18 Thank you!!! Dr. Tamir Bar-On, Department of International Relations and Humanities, TEC DE MONTERREY (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education), Campus Quertaro, Mexico. tbaron@itesm.mx or tamir.baron@gmail.com tbaron@itesm.mxtamir.baron@gmail.com Rethinking the French New Right: Alternatives to modernity (Routledge, 2013): http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415814058/