New Right (Teaching)

After the end of World War II and the collapse of the Vichy regime, many extreme right-wingers in France were forced to go underground. Nevertheless, already in the mid-1950s, many activists returned to public life and began to take part in the elections. Basically they joined the pujadism movement ^[1] . Over the next two decades, representatives of ultra-right movements rallied around defending the cause of the preservation of the French colonial empire , which was shocked by the national liberation movements in Indochina and Algeria . At this time, many right-wingers took part in the formation of several armed groups, the most famous of which were the Secret Armed Organization ( Organization armée secrète , OAS) and the Revolutionary Army ( Armée Révolutionnaire , AR) ^[2] . At the same time, many far-right intellectuals decided to take a different path and try to formulate their ideas in a way that would be more acceptable to the general public. For this purpose, the “ Group for the Study and Research of European Civilization ” (GRECE) ^{[3] was established} . Thus, the ideology of the new right was born shortly before the events of May 1968 in France ^[4] .

GRECE Institution: 1968-1974

The GRECE group was founded in Nice in January 1968 ^[5] . Initially, it included forty people ^[5] . Her most famous figures were Alain de Benoit , Pierre Vial , Jean-Claude Valla , Dominic Wenner , Jacques Bruy and Jean-Jacques Morro. According to political scientist Tamir Bar-On, "the intellectual evolution of GRECE members and leading intellectuals of the movement of the new right, in general, undoubtedly occurred in an atmosphere of revolutionary sentiment on the part of the right." GRECE was seen as a “logical alternative” for the “young French nationalist fighters” that they could join, given the dissolution of the Jeune Nation in 1958, the collapse of the OAS in 1962, and the defeat of the Rassemblement Européen de la Liberté in the 1967 parliamentary elections . Being radical nationalists and anti-communists , they began to defend the traditional culture of Western society . Some also advanced theories of racism and eugenics . They also opposed the migration of non-white peoples from the former French colonies to France, and this subsequently led them to adopt anti-colonial and anti-imperialist views ^[6] .

Alain de Benoit became the “undisputed leader” and “the most authoritative representative” of the new right-wingers ^[7] . In his youth, the philosopher was a member of the ultra-nationalist Federation of Nationalist Students ( Fédération des étudiants nationalistes ) and was the editor of the journal Europe Action . Both organizations, as the researchers noted, expressed the ideas of the new right in their "embryonic form" ^[8] . GRECE inherited a number of key topics and issues raised in the European Action magazine : this is an “anti-Christian stance of pronounced elitism, the idea of ​​uniting Europe, a departure from the biological to cultural emphasis of“ differences ”between nations, as well as complex inversions of traditional terms, such as racism and anti-racism . " De Benoit was also influenced by representatives of the conservative revolutionary movement in interwar Germany: Ernst Junger , Arthur Möller Van den Brook and Oswald Spengler . In the 1970s, the new right-wingers revived public interest in these conservative revolutionaries ^[9] .

An instruction was written for the members of GRECE, which urged them to abandon the use of the “obsolete language”, which could make the group with old fascist associations. It also spoke of the need to make acquaintances with influential people in France and Europe as a whole in order to better prepare the way for their goals. GRECE was not a homogeneous school of political thought, and its representatives held different, sometimes conflicting points of view. The new right-wingers adopted the experience of the participants in the unrest of 1968 and the movement of the new left , accepting the idea that the advancement of a certain cultural agenda in society is a prerequisite for political change ^[10] . De Benoit noted that although the French left did not receive electoral success from the end of World War II, their ideas gained considerable weight in French society, especially among the intelligentsia. Therefore, the new rightists sought to change the value orientation of French society by shifting the dominant ideology without any election victory ^[11] .

GRECE during its existence has held many seminars and colloquiums ^[12] . Also, members of the group began to publish semi-academic publications, through which they could promote their views. Their magazine “New School” ( Nouvelle Ecole ) , originally distributed among members of the group of participants, since 1969 began to be published for a wide audience ^[13] . During 1975 and 1976, the group issued its newsletters, which were intended for distribution to medical, educational and military circles. In 1976, GRECE established its own publishing house called Copernicus ^[14] .

Popularity and Opposition: 1975-1979

The term “new right” was not originally a self-name ^[15] . For the first time this term was used in a series of articles about GRECE written by Gilbert Comt and published in the newspaper Le Monde in March 1978, which were called “New Right?” (“ Une nouvelle droite? ”) ^{[16] [17]} . In those years, the adjective “new” was often used in relation to the phenomena of French intellectual and cultural life: these were “ new philosophers ” ( nouveaux philosophes ), “new historians” ( nouveaux historiens ), “new economists” ( nouveaux économistes ), and " New cuisine " ( nouvelle cuisine ).

By the end of the 1970s, the new right-wingers had completely adopted the accompanying spirit of the time ^[18] and reached their heyday and peak of popularity in the media ^[19] . During these years, intellectuals from the New Right published articles in France's leading publication, Le Figaro . In 1978, de Benoit's work, “A Look at the Right” ( Vu de droite ) received an award from the French Academy ^[14] . The growing popularity of the new right has raised concerns among many liberal and left intellectuals in France, who considered the new right to be a racist, fascist and Vichy movement, which also sought to undermine the foundations of liberal democracy, the ideas of egalitarianism and the legacy of the French Revolution of 1789 as a whole ^[19] . A campaign calling for the persecution of members of the movement was launched in Le Monde , L'Obs , L'Express and La Croix , as a result of which Le Figaro also had to abandon patronage of the movement ^[20] . Representatives of the movement subsequently claimed that the persecution was akin to what happened during the McCarthyism in the United States ^[21] . Finding themselves deprived of a popular platform, the new right-wingers accelerated their evolution from biological racism and finally came to the idea that different ethno-cultural groups should live separately in order to preserve historical and cultural differences ^[20] .

GRECE members - Jean-Yves Le Gallot, Ivan Blau, and Henri de Lesquin established in 1974 an association called the Club, which was to become an analytical center and another platform for promoting the ideas of the new right. All three were dissatisfied with GRECE's long-term strategy to fight metapolitics and sought to accelerate change in French society. Club members have joined political parties such as the Union for the Support of the Republic (RFR) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF) ^[22] . By the end of the 1970s, the Club significantly moved away from the ideological direction of GRECE: its representatives began to advocate for neoliberalism in the economy, and also recognized Catholicism as the fundamental basis of French national identity, which also contradicted the anti-Christian bias of GRECE ^[23] .

Political Influence: 1980 ― Present Day

In the early 1980s, a number of intellectuals associated with the New Right movement - Jean Audrey, Jean Varenne, Pierre Vial, Jean-Claude Barde and Pierre de Meuse - supported the National Front political party, which at that time was growing in popularity. Its leader at that time was Jean-Marie Le Pen . The party has experienced the ideological influence of the new right, and in particular has learned the thesis about the need for ethno-cultural differences. Members of the "Club", in turn, called on the leadership of the Union in Support of the Republic (RFR) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF) to join forces with the National Front to come together against the socialist government of Francois Mitterrand , although their plans were not realized into life ^[24] . In 1994, the NF Politburo consisted of four representatives from the new right: thus, they became the second most influential faction within the party ^[25] . At that time, inside the NF there was friction between supporters of the new right and other groups, primarily between believing Catholics, for whom sympathy for paganism on the part of the former was unacceptable ^[26] . In addition, there were also disagreements between the new right from the NF and the new right outside the party, in particular, the wing of the movement that de Benoit represented ^[27] . The philosopher openly criticized Le Pen's party, condemning his populism , which contradicted GRECE's commitment to elitism . De Benoit also opposed considering immigrants as scapegoats , guilty of the problems of the French, which they saw as members of the NF ^[28] . Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the two associations have a similar point of view on many issues ^[29] .

In 1993, a group of 40 French intellectuals signed the Call for Vigilance, which was published in Le Monde . In it, they warned of a "revival of anti-democratic ultra-right movements in the intellectual life of France and Europe" and called for a boycott of persons associated with the movement of the new right. In 1994, the appeal was published again, and this time it was already signed by 1,500 public figures from all over Europe ^{[7] [19]} .

Over the entire period of its existence, GRECE managed to work with Arthur Köstler , Hans Jürgen Eisenck , Conrad Lorenz , Mircea Eliade , Raymond Abellio , Thierry Mollner, Anthony Burgess and Jean Parvulesco ^[30] .

The Influence of Fascism and Leftist Ideologies

The new right-wingers occupy the extreme right-wing niche of the political spectrum .

A number of liberal and left-wing critics call this movement “fascist” ^[31] . Political scientist Roger Griffin agrees with this statement, arguing that the new right-wingers share in their ideology what he considers to be two of the most important aspects of fascism: populist ultra-nationalism and the call for national revival ^[32] . Political scientist Tom McCullough also believes that the New Right movement was “the distinctive nature of the revivers of fascism,” partly because they were greatly influenced by their right-wing predecessors — the German conservative revolutionaries and French fascists such as Robert Brazillac , Georges Valois , Pierre Drieu la Rochelle and Thierry Molner ^[33] . McCullough also notes the similarity of the ideas of the new right with fascism in terms of their desire to preserve ethnically and culturally homogeneous societies of European peoples, hostility to egalitarianism and universalism of the present and calls for cultural revival ^[34] . At the same time, the new right-wingers themselves reject the labels of "fascists" and "ultra-rightists" ^[35] . De Benoit himself was also called a neo-fascist ^[36] . However, the philosopher himself rejected these statements, claiming that he was specifically tried to discredit his critics “for the sole purpose of delegitimizing or discrediting” his ideas ^[37] . The new right-wingers usually try to emphasize that their criticism of capitalism and liberal democracy is different from the criticism that had previously been carried out by the ideologists of Nazism , fascism and old ultra-right-wing thinkers ^[38] .

The new right also differs from the traditional right , adhering to anti-capitalist , anti-Western, anti-nationalist positions, speaking in support of the third world peoples, for the federalism of European nations, as well as in solidarity with environmental movements . All this brings the new right to positions that are traditionally supported by the left . Such a mixture of traditionally left and right ideas complicates the determination of the ideological position of the movement, creating confusion for researchers, as well as various kinds of intellectuals and political activists ^[35] . The new right themselves in this regard declare that they are higher than the left and right ^[39] . Such a combination of traditional right and left ideas has long been recognized by researchers as one of the features of fascism ^[40] . De Benoit argued that his movement “has a certain number of features of the left and a certain number of features of the right ideologies” ^[41] . He also expressed the view that the traditional separation of left and right “has lost any operational significance for analyzing the sphere of ideological or political discourse,” since “the new watersheds that have arisen in the past few decades now do not coincide with the old concepts of separation of left and the right ” ^[42] .

Political scientist Alberto Spektorovsky supports the view that the new right "really seriously deviated from the ideological line of the old right with their nationalism and racism, and came to the left-wing ideas of regionalism and ethno-pluralism " ^[43] . Critics of the movement often call it right in essence ^[4] ; This statement is supported by political scientist Tamir Bar-On ^[4] , who expressed the view that “the ideologists of the new right have never completely departed from their original right-wing revolutionary roots” ^[44] . He also argued that the movement uses leftist ideas only within the framework of its “survival strategy” program, also noting that this fact is a “cunning attempt to revive some of the ideals of right-wing revolutionaries” ^[19] . Roger Griffin believes that the claims of the new right that they have overcome the division between left and right are “an impressive trick designed to mask their ultra-right entity” ^[40] .

The new right has borrowed many of the ideas of the new left ^[4] , and in particular - Antonio Gramsci ^[45] . Therefore, sometimes they call themselves "grammarists on the right." Among other new leftists who influenced the ideological development of the new right, thinkers of the Frankfurt school , such as Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer , as well as a number of neo-Marxists , such as Herbert Marcuse and Louis Altüsser , also stand out ^[46] . Some new right-wingers also sometimes say that they were influenced by a number of left-wing figures: for example, the former GRECE General Secretary Pierre Vial said that he admires the personality of Che Guevara , as well as the fighters of the Italian Red Brigades and the German Red Army Faction , who fought and died in their struggle with the regime of liberal democracy ^[47] . During the European Parliament elections in France in 1984, de Benoit announced his intention to vote for the French Communist Party , which, according to the philosopher, at that time acted as the only anti-capitalist , anti-liberal and anti-American political force ^[47] . In 1997, de Benoit spoke of the Greens as the only party in the country that opposed the materialistic values ​​of the West ^[47] .

Also, the Italian thinker Julius Evola had a great influence on the philosophy of the new right ^[48] .

In general, according to some scholars, GRECE included various "European imperialists ", traditionalists influenced by Julius Evola and Rene Guenon , communitarians , postmodernists ; nostalgic for times felkish ; neopagans with hostility related to Christianity and Judaism ” ^[8] . However, despite such a strong spread of currents within the movement, all new rightists were united by at least two things: the desire to protect collective identity (of any kind) and the rejection of egalitarianism ^[49] .

New Right Strategy. Metapolitics

GRECE put forward the idea of ​​a slow cultural transformation of society through the use of certain rhetoric and the promotion of relevant ideas in the hope of achieving cultural hegemony, which in turn would allow to dominate political power ^[8] . So, Pierre Vial said: “GRECE is not involved in politics. Her activity lies in a different, more fundamental plane. The members of the group work at the level of metapolitics ... where the collective mentality is located and where public consensus is formed ” ^[8] .

Alain de Benoit called for the overthrow of the ideas of liberal democracy through a long-term strategy at the metapolitical level ^[46] . However, despite the fact that the new right is opposed to liberal democracy, they do not reject democracy at all and offer their own version, which they call “organic democracy” ^[50] . The philosopher emphasized that his movement as a whole never supported any particular political party, and his goal was to “take the position of an observer ...”: “we analyze the social situation and submit ideas, provide a theoretical basis .. but nothing more than that ” ^[51] .

The new right is rejected by both the modern era and the postmodern ^[52] . They also consider capitalism in its global form unacceptable and are opponents of liberalism . Instead, the new right-wingers support regionalism , federalism , socialism and democracy locally ^[53] . They reject the principle of the equality of all people, stating that people are not born free and equal to each other, and society in its essence is hierarchical and should remain so ^[54] , and they also emphasize the importance of elites and their needs, the satisfaction of which, in their opinion, is the key to building a harmonious society in which everyone will know about their place and purpose ^[54] .

Ethnopluralism

The new right-wingers criticize the idea of human rights in its liberal interpretation, and instead highlight the rights of communities ^[55] . The new rightists are also hostile to multiculturalism and the mixing of human cultures ^[28] , and in multicultural societies, according to the representatives of the movement, one of the forms of “ ethnocide ” policy is implemented ^[50] . As for representatives of national minorities, rooted in France, the new right does not require their mass emigration from the country ^[49] : instead, they propose their separation within France, which would allow them to maintain their identity without being dissolved in the general population ^{[49 ]} . Critics of the movement argue that this approach by the new right is similar to the ideology of the Nazis and their aspirations for racial and cultural purity ^[56] . Alberto Spektorovsky argues that the views of the new right on the need to preserve cultural differences and segregation are aimed at preventing the strengthening of the Third World countries on the world stage, urging them to maintain an agrarian type of society and abandon industrialization while at the same time allowing European states to maintain their more technologically advanced position ^[57] .

The new right rejects the global capitalist system and unlimited freedom of the market , offering instead a communitarian form of capitalism ^[6] .

The representative of the movement also claims that the Christian heritage, perceived by European society, gave rise to the spirit of egalitarianism, which later appeared in a secular form in the form of ideologies of liberalism , social democracy and socialism ^[10] . Christian monotheism , in their opinion, is the bearer of a totalitarian ethos , which finds expression in the desire of Western society to impose its value system on other world cultures ^[10] . Pierre Vial wrote: “Totalitarianism was born four thousand years ago ... it happened on the day when monotheism appeared. The idea of ​​monotheism implies subjecting a person to the will of a single, eternal God ” ^[58] . GRECE openly adhered to pagan sympathies and saw pre-Christian Europe in a positive light, considering it an example of a healthy society, preserving its diversity and faith in many gods ^[26] . The rejection of Christianity by the new right also generated their rejection of the ideas of the old right, focused on Catholicism , as well as the ideas of the Anglo-American right and their neoliberalism ^[10] . Тем не менее новые правые с уважением относятся к вере прочих народов и считают, что они должны быть свободны в своей вере в единого Бога: « иудаизм является настоящей религией евреев , а ислам ― настоящей религией арабов ; навязывать свои собственные культурные модели другим народом ― один из видов расистской практики, которую мы безусловно осуждаем» ^[58] .

Хотя новые правые и выступают в защиту Западной цивилизации , но в то же время выступают против практики вестернизации ^[59] . Они негативно относились как к Советском Союзу , так и к США ^[54] . Являются крайними антиамериканистами и подвергают критике в США то, что называют «гиперкапиталистическим духом» ^[60] .

Новые правые не являются антисемитами ^[35] . В начале 1990-х Жорж Шарбонно объявил о том, что члены GRECE официально осуждают отрицание Холокоста ^[61] . Однако один из учредителей группы, Жан-Код Валла, однажды заявил, что он лично доверяет исследованиям ревизионистов ^[61] .

В конце 1980-х идеи новых правых были обрели популярность в различных европейских странах: в первую очередь это были Бельгия , Германия , Испания и Италия . Работы Алена де Бенуа и Гийома Фая также были переведены на множество европейских языков, включая русский ^[45] .

Объединения новых правых за пределами Франции существовали и существуют по сей день в виде различных политических партий и движений, как то Neue Rechte в Германии, New Right в Великобритании , Nieuw Rechts в Нидерландах , Forza Nuova в Италии , Imperium Europa на Мальте , Nova Hrvatska Desnica в Хорватии , Noua Dreapta в Румынии , а также Free Congress Foundation под руководством Пауля Вейриха в США ^[62] .

Новые правые обрели множество идеологических противников, хотя вместе с этим нашли для себя и союзников, подчас неожиданных ^[43] . Многие либералы и социалисты заявляют, что новые правые недалеко ушли от своих предшественников, классических правых, и что также они должны быть подвергнуты остракизму . Однако вместе с тем, например, левый американский журнал Telos с энтузиазмом воспринял способность новых правых преодолеть сложившуюся парадигму деления на левых и правых ^[43] . Движение часто критикуется как левыми, так и правыми. Для англо-американских правых неприемлемы их антизападные и антикапиталистические взгляды, а правые католики Франции критикуют представителей движения за их позитивное отношение к язычеству и неприятие христианства. ^[63]

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