Neue Rechte

Last updated

Neue Rechte (English: New Right) is the designation for a right-wing political movement in Germany. It was founded as an opposition to the New Left generation of the 1960s. Its intellectually oriented proponents distance themselves from Old Right Nazi traditions and emphasize similarities between the far-right and the conservative spectrum.

Contents

A common denominator of the Neue Rechte is a skeptical or negative stance towards the basic tenets of the German constitution, often in the sense of an ethnic ( völkisch ) nationalism.

History

When the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) was founded in 1964, its younger members began to call themselves Junge Rechte; this was in order to differ from Nazi models and to counter the German student movement. Contrary to their hopes, the NPD failed to enter the Bundestag parliament in the 1969 federal elections, whereafter they initiated a far-right renewal movement. In 1972, Henning Eichberg drafted the policy declaration of the Aktion Neue Rechte offshoot, conveying ideas of an 'anti-imperialistic liberation nationalism', which included the expulsion of the Allied 'occupying forces' to pave the way for German unification and national rebirth.

From 1974, the movement disintegrated into numerous splinter groups, some defending the traditional ideas of a German Volksgemeinschaft , some affiliating to the rising ecology movement. Eichberg and his followers continued to fight an 'over-foreignization' ( Überfremdung ) by the superpowers and advocated a Third Position in opposition to both capitalism and communism. They made attempts to build up ties to left-wing sectarian and ecological groups, as well as to the German peace movement.

In around 1980, a new tendency arose to approach the ideas of the French Nouvelle Droite and its founder Alain de Benoist. The adherents stressed the perspective of a pan-European 'cultural struggle'; their concepts were embodied by the foundation of the Thule-Seminar as the German branch of the French Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne (GRECE). In the late 1980s, proponents of a national revolutionary movement attempted to infiltrate right-wing populist parties like The Republicans, while other associated with the national liberal spectrum.

The movement gained a new momentum in the course of German reunification. The rise of right-wing parties as The Republicans led by Franz Schönhuber, the Pro Movement, and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a matter of ongoing debate among German political scientists. They draw parallels to the success of European parties such as the Italian Alleanza Nazionale and the Lega Nord, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), the French Front National, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) or the Belgian Vlaams Belang as well as to the US Tea Party movement. The programmatic statements of 'New Right' parties span from neoliberal to far-right elements and thereby have become compatible to conservative and liberal circles.

Ideology

Historically, the Neue Rechte is linked to the positions of right-wing ideologues in the Weimar Republic, later summarized under the heading 'Conservative Revolution' by writers like Armin Mohler. These forces included such people as Arthur Moeller van den Bruck ( Das Dritte Reich ), Carl Schmitt, Edgar Julius Jung, Ernst Jünger, Oswald Spengler ( The Decline of the West ) and Ernst von Salomon. During the interwar period, they openly rejected Marxism as well as liberalism and the parliamentary system in favour of an authoritarian regime and a German Sonderweg . Their views towards rising Nazism remained ambivalent, nevertheless they contributed to the fierce political infighting that preceded the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.

Several members of the Neue Rechte also refer to theorists like Georges Sorel, Vilfredo Pareto, Robert Michels, Julius Evola, and José Antonio Primo de Rivera seen as fascist pioneers. Some even base themselves on Marxist philosophers like Antonio Gramsci and his ideas of cultural hegemony.

Textually, the Neue Rechte challenges the principles of the Enlightenment, such as pluralism and social equality underlying the doctrine of human rights. Racist elements are superseded by the concept of ethnopluralism, combining both neoconservative and far-right approaches. Ideologists disparage the ideals of the 1968 protests and feminism, they refuse to accept a multicultural society and seek for a strengthened 'national identity'. Therefore, they tend to historical revisionism and to battle against what they call a German 'cult of guilt' with regard to The Holocaust. According to Roger Griffin, the Neue Rechte share the deep cultural pessimism of their precursors in the interwar period. Referring to a völkisch nationalism, the movement seeks refuge not in the restoration of traditional values, but in a 'national rebirth' according to palingenetic concepts. [1]

They parallel the French Nouvelle Droite as a political movement, somewhat similar in their general political stance including the Anti-American sentiment advocated by Alain de Benoist. However, the Nouvelle Droite's neo-pagan leanings are the opposite to the Christian foundation of many Neue Rechte members, though the movement also comprises occult groups.

Although the European Neue Rechte refrains from political violence, according to Roger Griffin [2] it "clearly embodies a form of palingenetic ultranationalism and has earned the label 'fascist'". Aware that no more mass political movements can be formed after 1945, the Neue Rechte, according to Griffin, is deliberately moving "into a state of apoliteia beyond party politics, stoically awaiting a new historical conjuncture in which the postponed revolution can be resumed". The militant anti-Americanism of Alain de Benoist, for example, explicitly justifies attacks ("retaliatory measures") on the USA. According to Griffin, the Ordine Nuovo, which is responsible for several terrorist attacks, draws its main inspiration from the works of Julius Evola. [3]

According to Volker Weiß, there is hardly any fundamental hostility towards Islam within the Neue Rechte. The reason for the aversion is "merely the presence of Islam in the greater European area". The "real conditions in Teheran, Riyadh, Istanbul or Kabul" play no role for the representatives of the New Right - unlike in universalist thinking. [4]

According to Griffin, the preferred target groups of the New Right's "culture war" are segments of society in which young people who have a certain tolerance for Neue Rechte positions can be found: e.g. fraternities and displaced persons. Other fields of agitation are neo-paganism and occultism. [5] The Dark culture was also courted in the 1990s. [6] The main starting point for this was Neofolk, a style of music in which some artists operate with fascist aesthetics. [7] In addition to musical reviews, the fanzine Sigill (later Zinnober) also published essays on the work of Armin Mohler, Ernst Jünger, Julius Evola and others. [8]

Some Neue Rechte groups refer to pre-Christian or non-Christian European traditions. Neo-paganism is "one of their founding figures, and they practice the corresponding cults with devotion", writes Friedrich Paul Heller. The Thule-Seminar, for example, sees a "European rebirth". According to Heller, it is not the number of members that is decisive here, but their role as cues. They had an impact on the music scene and esotericism. [9]

The historian Walter Laqueur is of the opinion that the Neue Rechte ultimately failed to develop a coherent counter-position to Western-American liberalism. [10] The Neue Rechte movement has not achieved an integrated opposite position to Western liberalism: while a main neoconservative tendency strongly refers to pre-war traditions and even affect centre-right parties, a second wing openly uses terms like "revolution" or "socialism" in political disputes, based on the model of Ernst Niekisch and Strasserist concepts. They have made attempts to build up a Querfront strategy with originally 'left' anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist circles.

Theoretical foundations

First representatives

Representatives of the German New Right often refer to certain thinkers of the Weimar Republic. Since a dissertation by Armin Mohler in 1949, these have been summarized in the collective term "Conservative Revolution", which many on the New Right have taken up and updated. Mohler's dissertation is still considered a standard work by supporters of the New Right. [11] Representatives of this movement include thinkers who rejected human rights, liberalism, Marxism and parliamentary democracy between the world wars, such as Arthur Moeller van den, Ernst Jünger, Edgar Julius Jung, Ernst von Salomon and Carl Schmitt. Their opposing positions were inconsistent, but tended towards authoritarian state models and a German "special path" in relation to Western civilization. Their relationship to National Socialism is controversial; most of them were not active National Socialists, some distanced themselves from them and some were persecuted after 1933, while others affirmed and supported the Nazi state. Historians such as Kurt Sontheimer emphasize the ideological and practical similarities, which favoured and helped prepare the rise of the NSDAP.

The New Right also refers to pioneers and theorists of fascism such as Julius Evola, Robert Michels, Vilfredo Pareto, José Antonio Primo de Rivera und Georges Sorel. The weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit, which historians and political scientists classify as an organ of the New Right, has dedicated a series of articles to these and similar thinkers and regularly reviews books about them.

Gramscianism

The New Right not only refers to representatives of the "Conservative Revolution", but also to a Marxist intellectual, Antonio Gramsci. [12] His ideas on the achievement of cultural hegemony are used instrumentally as power techniques - without further consideration of his Marxist ideas and ideals. [13]

The reference to Gramsci was presented by Alain de Benoist in a fundamental article in the GRECE magazine Elements in 1977 titled "Pour un "gramscisme de droite"", which was finally adopted as part of a new-right strategy at a GRECE conference in Paris in November 1981. This reference was intended to bring about self-sanctioning and was aimed at the appropriation of recognition by recognized intellectuals in order to bring about social acceptance. However, this reference was also a symbolic attribute, according to historian Wolfgang Kowalsky, "which made it possible to break the anti-fascist consensus that had assigned every right-wing extremist position since 1945 a socio-political place "hors statut", in other words: stigmatized it". [14] [15]

As there are currently no historical conditions, such as a mass movement, for a desired turnaround, the most important tactical approach of the New Right is the claim to achieve "discourse sovereignty" in social debates and cultural hegemony. This principle was first described by the Marxist theorist of the Italian Communist Party, Antonio Gramsci. He analyzed that social hegemony also functions in this way in the existing system: If one wants to achieve such hegemony, one must strive to infiltrate the elite discourse through journalistic activities, participate in clubs, associations and cultural institutions and on this basis bring ideological content into the social discussion, ultimately creating acceptance for it and dominating public opinion in the long term. Once this goal has been achieved, society is "ripe" for an overthrow of the status quo through an increasing number of electoral shares and parliamentary seats until government responsibility is assumed. This strategy also appears interesting to the New Right: "It is generally regarded as an essential new element of the 'New Right' that it refers to the Italian communist Antonio Gramsci and strives to achieve 'cultural hegemony' in order to overturn political conditions on this basis“. [16]

Networks

Well-known scholars and influential figures of the Neue Rechte beside Henning Eichberg and Armin Mohler include Gerd-Klaus Kaltenbrunner  [ de ], Hans-Dietrich Sander  [ de ], Robert Hepp  [ de ], Caspar von Schrenck-Notzing, Karlheinz Weissmann and Götz Kubitschek.

The medium commonly associated with the Neue Rechte is the weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit founded in 1986. However, its chief editor Dieter Stein, a former member of The Republicans, denounces the term and instead advocates a more traditionally Christian, yet decidedly nationalist and democratic conservatism. Yet the term is frequently used as a self-description by the bi-monthly magazine Sezession, which is closely linked to Junge Freiheit. Other periodicals affiliated with the Neue Rechte are Nation und Europa (discontinued in 2009) and its Zuerst! successor. The Studienzentrum Weikersheim founded by the CDU politician Hans Filbinger considers itself a Christian-conservative think tank.

The Bibliothek des Konservatismus (BdK) is another connecting element in the network of the far-right in central Europe. Opened in 2012 and located in Fasanenstraße in Berlin-Charlottenburg the main focus of the library is conservative and far-right literature. It is the first library with this content in Germany and was founded by Caspar von Schrenck-Notzing and his foundation Förderstiftung Konservative Bildung und Forschung  [ de ] (FKBF). FKBF is running the library. There are 27.000 medias (2014) in the library.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain de Benoist</span> French journalist and political theorist (born 1943)

Alain de Benoist, also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names, is a French political philosopher and journalist, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite, and the leader of the ethno-nationalist think tank GRECE.

The Conservative Revolution, also known as the German neoconservative movement, or new nationalism, was a German national-conservative and ultraconservative movement prominent during the Weimar Republic and Austria, in the years 1918–1933.

The Nouvelle Droite, sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Various scholars of political science have argued that it is a form of fascism or neo-fascism, although the movement eschews these terms.

The European New Right (ENR) is a far-right movement which originated in France as the Nouvelle Droite in the late 1960s by Alain de Benoist. Its proponents are involved in a global "anti-structural revolt" against modernity and post-modernity, largely in the form of loosely connected intellectual communities striving to diffuse a similar philosophy within European societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thule-Seminar</span> German far-right ethnonationalist organization

The Thule-Seminar is a far-right nationalist organization with strong Neopaganist roots based in Kassel, Germany. It was founded in 1980 by Pierre Krebs, essentially as the German branch of GRECE. Sometimes described as a think tank or "party of the mind", its name alludes to the Thule Society, one of the organizations that facilitated the rise of the Nazis and provided some of the intellectual cadre for the latter.

The Groupement de Recherche et d'Études pour la Civilisation Européenne, better known as GRECE, is a French ethnonationalist think tank founded in 1968 to promote the ideas of the Nouvelle Droite. GRECE founding member Alain de Benoist has been described as its leader and "most authoritative spokesman". Prominent former members include Guillaume Faye and Jean-Yves Le Gallou.

Nation Europa was a far-right monthly magazine, published in Germany. It was founded in 1951 and was based in Coburg until its closure in 2009. It is also the name of the publishing house that developed the magazine, Nation Europa Verlag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armin Mohler</span> Swiss far-right political philosopher (1920–2003)

Armin Mohler was a Swiss far-right political philosopher and journalist, known for his works on the Conservative Revolution. He is widely seen as the father of the Neue Rechte, the German branch of the European New Right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autonome Nationalisten</span> European nationalist militant groups

Autonome Nationalisten are German, British, Dutch, and to a lesser degree Flemish, nationalists, who have adopted some of the far-left and antifa's organizational concepts, demonstration tactics, symbolism, and elements of clothing, including Che Guevara T-shirts and keffiyehs. Similar groups have also appeared in some central and eastern European countries, beginning with Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Romania and Greece and others.

Anton Maegerle is the Pseudonym of the German journalist Gernot Modery. He is also the author of books about far-right politics, right-wing radicalism, the New Right, and right-wing policy in general.

Stahlgewitter is a controversial German hard rock and Rock Against Communism group founded in 1995. Despite the genre's name, RAC song lyrics rarely focus on the specific topic of anti-communism. Rather, RAC lyrics typically feature nationalist themes. Stahlgewitter is listed by the group 'Netz gegen Nazis' as one of the more popular contemporary Rock Against Communism groups. This categorises Stahlgewitter in amongst other more historical Rock Against Communism groups such as the English band Skrewdriver which played a lending role in the formation of RAC and the fellow German band Landser who are now deemed a "criminal gang organisation" in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Suchomel</span> Nazi Officer (1907–1979)

Franz Suchomel was a Sudeten German Nazi war criminal. He participated in the Action T4 euthanasia program, in Operation Reinhard, and the Einsatzgruppen actions in the Adriatic operational zone. He was convicted at the Treblinka trials in September 1965 and spent four years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Identitarian movement</span> European far-right political movement

The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalist, ethno-nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of the European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories exclusively. Originating in France as Les Identitaires, with its youth wing Generation Identity (GI), the movement expanded to other European countries during the early 21st century. Its ideology was formulated from the 1960s onward by essayists such as Alain de Benoist, Dominique Venner, Guillaume Faye and Renaud Camus, who are considered the main ideological sources of the movement.

Value criticism is a social theory which draws its foundation from the Marxian tradition and criticizes the contemporary mode of production. Value criticism was developed partly by critical readings of the traditions of the Frankfurt School and critical theory. Prominent adherents of value criticism include Robert Kurz, Moishe Postone and Jean-Marie Vincent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Götz Kubitschek</span> German journalist (born 1970)

Götz Kubitschek is a German publisher, journalist and far-right political activist. He espouses ethnocentric positions and is one of the most important protagonists of the Neue Rechte in Germany. Hailing from the staff of right-wing newspaper Junge Freiheit, Kubitschek is one of the founders of the Neue Rechte think tank Institut für Staatspolitik. Since 2002, he is the manager of his self-founded publishing house Antaios, since 2003 chief editor of the journal Sezession, as well as editor of the corresponding blog Sezession im Netz.

Far-right subcultures refers to the symbolism, ideology and traits that hold relevance to various politically extreme right-wing groups and organisations. There are three kinds of subcultures within far-right movements to distinguish: subcultural parasitism, subcultural creation around ideology and subcultures that are networking with far-right movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation</span>

The Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation aims to promote science. The foundation was established in 1958 on the initiative of entrepreneur Ernst von Siemens. The managing director was the philosopher Heinrich Meier until March 2022. In the summer semester of 2022, the literary scholar Marcel Lepper took over the management. Since February 22, 2023, the foundation has been temporarily managed by Carola Schütt, who previously held the commercial management. Armin Mohler, who popularized the concept of the conservative revolution, chaired the foundation for many years from 1964 to 1985, making the foundation a central place for the “New Right” of the time.

Stefan Breuer is a German sociologist who specializes in the writings of Max Weber and the German political right between 1871 and 1945.

Wolf Wetzel is a German author, journalist and publicist. He is the author of several books and publishes in various media, including Der Freitag, junge Welt, and NachDenkSeiten. He wrote at Rubikon from its foundation in 2017 until his departure in 2018. Wetzel has also been a deputy board member of Business Crime Control since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volker Weiss</span> German historian (1972-)

Volker Weiss is a German historian, writer, and commentator on extreme right movements. His research focus is the extreme right and German history in the 19th and 20th century. Volker Weiss is a Fellow of the Center for Research on Antisemitism in Berlin.

References

  1. ↑ "Der umstrittene Begriff des Faschismus". Interview in: DISS-Journal 13, 2004, p. 13 (in German).
  2. ↑ Roger Griffin: Völkischer Nationalismus als Wegbereiter und Fortsetzer des Faschismus: Ein angelsächsischer Blick auf ein nicht nur deutsches Phänomen. in: Heiko Kauffmann, Helmut Kellershohn, Jobst Paul (Hrsg.): Völkische Bande. Dekadenz und Wiedergeburt – Analysen rechter Ideologie. Unrast Verlag, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-89771-737-9, S. 41f
  3. ↑ Roger Griffin: Völkischer Nationalismus… in: Kauffmann, Kellershohn, Paul (Hrsg.): Völkische Bande…. Unrast Verlag, Münster 2005, S. 41f
  4. ↑ Volker Weiß: Die autoritäre Revolte. Die Neue Rechte und der Untergang des Abendlandes. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2018, S. 214
  5. ↑ Roger Griffin: Völkischer Nationalismus… in: Kauffmann, Kellershohn, Paul (Hrsg.): Völkische Bande…. Unrast Verlag, Münster 2005, S. 41f
  6. ↑ Alfred Schobert (2009), "Kreuz, Totenkopf, Gruft", in Duisburger Institut für Sprach- und Sozialforschung (ed.), Analysen und Essays, Münster: Unrast-Verlag, pp. 147–157, hier S. 155, ISBN   978-3-89771-750-3
  7. ↑ Christian Dornbusch (2002), Andreas Speit (ed.), "Von Landsertrommeln und Lärmorgien", Ästhetische Mobilmachung, Münster: Unrast, pp. 123–147, hier S. 126f, ISBN   3-89771-804-9
  8. ↑ Thomas Naumann, Patrick Schwarz (2002), Andreas Speit (ed.), "Von der CD zur ›Lichtscheibe‹", Ästhetische Mobilmachung, Münster: Unrast, pp. 161–194, hier S. 169, ISBN   3-89771-804-9
  9. ↑ Friedrich Paul Heller: Die Neue Rechte und das Neuheidentum. Auszug aus dem Essay Mythologie und Okkultismus bei den deutschen Rechtsextremen ist aus dem Buch Handbuch Rechtsradikalismus, Thomas Grumke und Bernd Wagner (Hrsg.), Leske + Budrich, 2002.
  10. ↑ Walter Laqueur: Faschismus. Gestern-heute-morgen. Propyläen Verlag, Berlin, 1997, ISBN 3-549-05602-8, S. 153
  11. ↑ Katja Bauer, Maria Fiedler, Die Methode AfD: Der Kampf der Rechten: Im Parlament, auf der Straße – und gegen sich selbst, Klett-Cotta 2021, ISBN 978-3-608-12101-8, S. 130
  12. ↑ Sabri Deniz Martin (2022), Vojin Sasa Vukadinovic (ed.), "Metapolitik bis zum »Tag X«", Randgänge der Neuen Rechten (1. ed.), Bielefeld: Transcript-Verlag, p. 105, ISBN   978-3-8376-5996-2
  13. ↑ Armin Pfahl-Traughber: Die „Umwertung der Werte“ als Bestandteil einer Strategie der „Kulturrevolution“. Die Begriffsumdeutung von Demokratie durch rechtsextremistische Intellektuelle. In: Wolfgang Gessenharter/Thomas Pfeiffer (Hrsg.): Die Neue Rechte – eine Gefahr für die Demokratie, Wiesbaden 2004, S. 73–94.
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Kowalsky, Kulturrevolution?: Die Neue Rechte im neuen Frankreich und ihre Vorläufer, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 1991, S. 180.
  15. ↑ James Shields, The Extreme Right in France: From Pétain to Le Pen, Routledge 2007, S. 144 mit Fußnote 3 auf S. 343.
  16. ↑ Steffen Kailitz: Politischer Extremismus in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Wiesbaden 2004, S. 85.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.