Alain de Benoist

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Alain de Benoist (2011)

Alain de Benoist [də bəˈnwɑ] (pseudonyms including Fabrice Laroche , James Barney , Robert de Herte ; born December 11, 1943 in Saint-Symphorien , Département Indre-et-Loire , today to Tours ) is a French publicist and philosopher and applies as a major pioneer of the New Right .

biography

Alain de Benoist grew up in Paris and attended the Lycée Montaigne and the elite school Lycée Louis-le-Grand . He studied constitutional law , philosophy , sociology , morality , history and religion at the Sorbonne .

De Benoist's political career began in the late 1950s in the right-wing terrorist organization Jeune Nation , which was banned in 1958 after a bomb attack on the French National Assembly. Together with Dominique Venner and other former Jeune Nation members, de Benoist founded the militant right-wing extremist student organization Fédération des Étudiants Nationalistes (FEN) in 1960 . From 1962 to 1966 de Benoist was the editorial secretary of the FEN magazine Cahiers Universitaires . During the Algerian War , the FEN sought to modernize neo-fascist positions. De Benoist also published in Europe Action , a magazine founded by his friend Venner in 1963 .

Together with Dominique Venner, de Benoist co-founded the Groupement de Recherche et des Etudes pour la Civilization Européenne ( GRECE ), a neo-fascist think tank according to the French historian Pierre Milza , in which de Benoist played an ideological pioneering role in 1968 . Beyond these groups, de Benoist tried since the 1970s to advertise the approaches of the Nouvelle Droite and the associated modernization of neo-fascist ideology throughout Europe and maintained contact with many associations and parties.

One of the main focuses of GRECE was the publication of the magazines Nouvelle École and Éléments . Nouvelle École was founded in 1968 by de Benoist. From 1973 he was editor of the magazine Éléments and later also part of the editorial team of the German sister paper Elements . Both publications strive for a renaissance of right-wing thinking and are primarily in the service of so-called “ metapolitics ”, that is, “intellectual, philosophical and theoretical reflection” (de Benoist) in contrast to direct political activity. While the Nouvelle École has a more scientific-encyclopedic claim, which is supposed to cover as many areas as possible, the more literary elements are dominated by political polemics. The “Comité de patronage” of the Nouvelle École in the 1970s included Armin Mohler , Konrad Lorenz , Arthur Koestler and Jean Cau . In 1988 de Benoist founded another journal, Krisis , which increasingly focuses on debates between authors from different political camps.

The Swiss publicist Armin Mohler had observed the French development of GRECE and de Benoist, made contacts in the 1970s and supported him since the 1980s by arranging connections to organizations, newspapers and publishers. The right-wing extremist Thule Seminar was founded in Kassel in 1980 as a German offshoot of GRECE , which separated from de Benoist in 1983. In addition, de Benoist was a member of the advisory board of the right-wing extremist organization Society for Biological Anthropology, Eugenics and Behavioral Research (GfbAEV) published German magazine Neue Anthropologie (editor: Jürgen Rieger ).

In Germany he has mainly appeared as an author in newspapers from the right-wing spectrum such as Junge Freiheit und Europa Vord (founded in 1988), partly also in right-wing extremist publications such as Nation und Europa (1951–2009) and in the English-language newspaper The Scorpion produced in Germany . His books initially appeared primarily in the right-wing extremist Grabert Verlag . Since the 1990s, the publishing house of the weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit became his house publisher. Even if he rarely refers to the Holocaust, he gave interviews in 1994 for the Journal of Historical Review , which is published by Holocaust deniers , but without explicitly endorsing the denial. In connection with right-wing extremist authors for whom Junge Freiheit offers a platform, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution described him as the “chief ideologist of the French 'New Right'”, who in an article in Junge Freiheit “disparaged the mere“ rhetoric of human rights ” “Speak. De Benoist's positions were and are only discussed in a small part of the German right-wing spectrum. Since reunification in 1990 and after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in the USA , however, he has tried to increase political influence.

Since 1992, de Benoist has regularly published articles and interviews in the journal TELOS , which was founded as the theoretical organ of the American New Left .

Content-related positions

New rights and cross-front strategy

“The old right is dead - she deserves it” is a typical statement by de Benoist. The schools of thought initiated by him have become known under the term Nouvelle Droite (“New Right”). De Benoist's thinking has undergone several changes over the years. However, certain subject areas run through his work like a red thread. De Benoist's central leitmotif is anti-gallitarianism , which for him is the actual basis of pluralism and which he defines roughly as follows:

“I am calling here - out of pure convention - the attitude to the right, which consists in the diversity of the world and consequently the relative inequalities which are its necessary result, as a good and the progressive unification of the world, which is brought about by the discourse of the egalitarian ideology which has been preached and realized for two thousand years, to be regarded as an evil. "

However, this position does not mean that all inequality is legitimate per se:

“On the contrary, there are numerous inequalities that are utterly unjust. [...] I don't approve of any caste privilege. I am making equal opportunities a requirement of every social policy. In any case, advocating an anti-legal view of life does not mean wanting to intensify the often despicable inequalities [...]. "
"I have made it clear on countless occasions that 'difference' is by no means a synonym for 'inequality' [...], and I am careful not to confuse equality (especially the equality of citizens) with egalitarianism."

For de Benoist, the opposite of this position is totalitarianism , which does not tolerate being different. De Benoist sees this in communism , National Socialism (see his book Totalitarianism ), but also - in a more subtle form - in liberalism at work. The extreme consequence of the latter is globalization , which aims to destroy the peoples and cultures of the world in favor of "unleashing the logic of capital" in order to build a civilization based purely on capitalist and consumerist values. The cardinal operator of this tendency, in de Benoist's eyes, is the USA .

“Not only do I detest dictatorships, despotism and any 'authoritarian' form of government, I have condemned contemporary totalitarianisms in several books and defended democratic principles against the attacks to which they are exposed. [...] Instead of speaking out for a 'hegemony' that would condemn other opinions to silence, we tirelessly defended pluralism, diversity, the right to difference, grassroots democracy, the principle of subsidiarity, etc., in short, everything which enables citizens to participate more actively in public life and to make democratic decisions on all levels as much as possible about the things that affect them. "

In a conversation with the NPD organization Hier & Jetzt in 2010, de Benoist emphasized that his identity was more threatened by the West than by the Middle East, and mentioned “English words that creep into our language”. He said: “Our cities are increasingly reminiscent of Los Angeles or New York , not of Istanbul or Tunis .” The “greatest threat to our identity” is “not another identity, but political universalism in all its forms, the popular cultures and different ones Lifestyles ”and who are preparing to“ transform the earth into a homogeneous space ”.

Similar to the cross-front strategy from the conservative revolution of the 1920s, de Benoist's “metapolitics” draws on left and right theories and thinkers in an eclectic way: “I see right and left ideas that correspond to what I think […]. After all, the words are not the things themselves. "

De Benoist's discussion of the Marxist Antonio Gramsci became significant . One of Gramsci's central theses was the emphasis on the role of intellectuals in the process of social consciousness transformation, which is the prerequisite for changing political relationships. Subsequently, de Benoist called for a “cultural revolution from the right”. According to his own statement, however, it was never, as has often been assumed, an unconditional “cultural hegemony”, a term used by Gramsci: “I never strived for any 'hegemony', but always insisted on the importance of the differences in all areas on the essential pluralistic dimension in every free society. "(Interview with Zinnober 4/2004)

Regionalism, differentialism, neo-paganism

De Benoist is close to the principle of regionalism (which should not be confused with separatism ) and historically sees the ethnically homogeneous nation-state as done: “That is why I advocate a moderate multiculturalism that is inspired by communitarianism and that is both assimilation and Apartheid. "(Interview with Junge Freiheit, July 17, 1998)

Following the slogan “Vive la différence” (“Long live the difference”), de Benoist speaks out against both the assimilation of immigrants (i.e. their absorption by the culture in which they are received) and the American-style melting pot model. For him, individuals have the “duty” to be different, whereby it is above all the collectives of ethnic, religious or cultural character that guarantee the identity of the individual. That is why he rejects the liberal emphasis on individualism, in which “fundamental value [...] is placed on the individual”, as an anthropological illusion and sees in it an ideology that destroys communities:

“In one case, humanity is the sum of all individuals, represented equally in every particular human being: one is first of all 'human' and only secondarily, as if by chance, a member of a certain culture or a certain people. In the other case, humanity is only the totality of cultures and ethnic communities: the individual is only determined by his or her organic affiliation to it. [...] In our opinion, the individual exists only in connection with the communities in which he is included (and in relation to which he stands out as an individual). Each individual activity represents an act of participation in the life of a people. The interest of the individual is not valued "in itself". "

De Benoist rejects the idea of ​​the existence of higher or lower races and peoples, but emphasizes their diversity. He describes this position as “differentialistic anti-racism ”, which he contrasts with “universalistic” anti-racism, in which he only sees the downside of racism . While the "universalist" version denies any difference and assumes abstract individuals, the "differentialist" version emphasizes the concrete connection of individuals with their "collective identities", "but opposes their hierarchical classification."

De Benoist advocates a neo-paganism that wants to revive an original, polytheistic , Indo-European religion because what he called "Judaeo-Christianity" attacked the European religion and culture. This is mainly due to monotheism , in which de Benoist sees the root of totalitarianism and which is hostile to a “multifaceted”, ie “polytheistic” world. In particular, liberalism and western democracies are restricted by "Judaeo-Christianity". De Benoist is considered to be one of the main representatives of right-wing esotericism after 1945.

Anti-globalism, pacifism and the criticism of universal human rights

The "uprising of cultures" corresponds to a relative pacifism z. B. with the action “Non à la guerre” (“No to war”) from 1999 and then a rejection of US military policy. He called the attack on Iraq in 2003 "criminal aggression". He made the following angry statement:

“As of this Thursday, March 20, 2003, 2:32 am, every act of retaliation directed against American interests and also American persons, militarily, politically, diplomatically and administratively, in what place, how far and wide, by what means, is under whatever the circumstances, from now on both legitimate and necessary. "

He put this statement into perspective on March 21st with the words: "Of course it was out of the question for me to give the appearance of advocating terrorist actions, which are always to be condemned, especially those that affect the civilian population." US hegemony, the engine of globalization, calls on de Benoist for a "uprising of cultures". He describes what he calls the “religion of human rights” as the prevailing ideology of globalization: “In connection with the expansion of markets, the rhetoric of human rights serves as an ideological disguise for globalization. Above all else, it is an instrument of domination and must be understood as such. ”Above all, De Benoist denies the main legitimation of“ human rights ”, their universality :

"If the concept of human rights is a purely Western one, there can be no doubt that its global generalization represents outside interference, a different kind of conversion and domination, a continuation of the colonial syndrome."

Appreciation and criticism

Alain de Benoist is one of the most controversial contemporary philosophers. His opponents accuse him of neo-fascist tendencies and a lack of fear of contact with right-wing extremist circles. De Benoist's distinction between “differentialistic” and “universalistic” anti-racism is rejected. His writings are pervaded by a latent racism, even if he rarely uses the term “race” (cf. Racism without races ), but usually speaks of “peoples” and “communities”. Ultimately, he represented a principle of racial segregation . Examples of this criticism are Richard Herzinger and Hannes Stein , who sharply criticize de Benoist with the book Endzeit-Propheten, or: Die Offensive der Antiwestler (1995):

“[…] De Benoist [hopes] to free his racial ideology from the suspicion of fascism. [...] Has the right really changed sides, has he mutated into a laissez-faire cosmopolitan, whose heart beats for the happy multiracial togetherness in the style of the United Colors of Benetton International? Not even close. De Benoist formulates nothing else in modified language than the familiar folk ideology, which has been the core of conservative German anti-liberalism since political romanticism. […] De Benoist knows how to pass off his program of ethnic division as 'consistent anti-racism'. [...] Every culture retains its individuality and dignity only as long as it does not mix with foreign cultures. [...] The stranger only remains 'different' and thus himself if he stays at home. "(Richard Herzinger / Hannes Stein:" Endzeitpropheten ", Hamburg 1995, pp. 102-104)

In a review of de Benoist's latest book Farewell to Growth. For a culture of moderation , Mathias Brodkorb , de Benoist has recently represented “positions that can hardly be described as 'right'”. Rather, he developed a worldview of "esoteric eco-socialism". In Germany, the political scientist and right-wing author Benedikt Kaiser is considered to be the apologist for Alain de Benoist, with whom he has already appeared together.

Books (selection)

Articles (selection)

  • Which road leads from Yalta? On the possibilities of overcoming the division of Europe , in: Deutschland in Geschichte und Gegenwart , 1987, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 1–8.
  • Over the wall. The dismantling of the wall heralds the healing of Europe , in: Germany in history and present , 1990, vol. 38, no. 1, p. 6.
  • What is Sovereignty? , in: Telos , 1999, No. 116, pp. 99-119.
  • The first federalist . Johannes Althusius, in: Telos , 2000, no. 118, pp. 25–59.
  • The 20th Century ended September 11 , in: Telos , 2001, No. 121, pp. 113-134.
  • To trivialize communism , in: Germany in history and present , 2002, j. 50, No. 1, pp. 24-28.
  • On the French Right - New and Old. An Interview with Alain de Benoist , in: Telos , 2003, No. 126, pp. 113-133.
  • Schmitt in France , in: Telos , 2003, No. 126, pp. 133-153.
  • Karl Marx and commodity fetishism as well as value criticism , in: Benedikt Kaiser, Alain de Benoist u. Diego Fusaro : Marx from the right . Jungeuropa Verlag, Dresden 2018, pp. 65–78 and pp. 79–94.

literature

Magazine articles

  • Thomas Sheehan: Myth and Violence: The Fascism of Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist. in: Social Research , No. 48, 1981, pp. 45-73.
  • Paul Gottfried: Alain de Benoist's Anti-Americanism. In: Telos. Special Double Issue: The French New Right. New York 1995.
  • Roger Griffin: Between metapolitics and apoliteia: the New Right's strategy for conserving the fascist vision in the 'interregnum' . In: Modern & Contemporary France , No. 8/1, 2000, pp. 35–53 (on the importance of Armin Mohler and Julius Evola for de Benoist).
  • Hartwig Schmidt: The non-Nazi. Alain de Benoist and the Manifesto of the Nouvelle Droite. In: Berliner Debatte Initial 16/2005.
  • Michael Böhm: Alain de Benoist, the Nouvelle Droite and the problem of extremism. A reply to Hartwig Schmidt's “The Non-Nazi”. In: Berliner Debatte Initial 06/2006.

Monographs and book contributions

  • Jean Cremet, Felix Krebs, Andreas Speit: Beyond Nationalism. Ideological cross-border commuters of the “New Right” . Münster, Unrast 1999, ISBN 3-928300-94-6 .
  • Roger Griffin: Plus ça change! The fascist pedigree of the Nouvelle Droite. In: Edward Arnold (Ed.): The Development of the Radical Right in France. From Boulanger to Le Pen. Palgrave MacMillan, London 2000, ISBN 0-3122-3165-2 ( online ).
  • Thomas Pfeiffer: Culture as a question of power. The New Right in Germany. Study by the NRW constitution protection agency, 2003, online text ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
  • Anton Maegerle: authors of the Grabert-Verlag and Hohenrain-Verlag. Their function and importance in the right-wing scene. In: Martin Finkenberger, Horst Junginger (Ed.): In the service of lies. Herbert Grabert (1901-1978) and his publishers. Alibri, Aschaffenburg 2004, pp. 155–174, here pp. 155–157, ISBN 3-932710-76-2 .
  • Alfred Schobert: Alain de Benoist's ideas of European identity. In: Alfred Schobert, Siegfried Jäger (Ed.): Mythos Identity. Fiction with consequences . Münster, Unrast 2004. ISBN 3-89771-735-2 .
  • Dieter Stein: L'Allemagne et ses various "Nouvelle Droites". L'influence d 'Alain de Benoist à l'est du Rhin . In: Liber Amicorum Alain de Benoist . Les amis d'Alain de Benoist, 2004; German as Germany and its various "New Right". The influence of Alain de Benoist east of the Rhine in the same: Phantom “New Right”. The history of a political term and its abuse by the protection of the constitution. Edition Junge Freiheit, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-929886-22-7 .
  • Michael Böhm: Alain de Benoist and the Nouvelle Droite. A contribution to the history of ideas in the 20th century (= history , vol. 86). With a foreword by Frank-Lothar Kroll . Lit, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8258-1711-4 .
  • Thomas Irmer: Alain de Benoist. In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Hostility to Jews in the past and present. Vol. 2/1: People. De Gruyter / Sauer, Berlin 2009, p. 67 f.
  • Ines Weber: The political theory of Alain de Benoist . Tectum-Verlag, Marburg 2011, ISBN 3-8288-2639-3 .

Web links

Commons : Alain de Benoist  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Revue philosophique de la France et de l'étranger , Volume 170, Presses universitaires de France, 1980, page 56.
  2. ↑ Anton Maegerle: Political and journalistic career of authors of "Junge Freiheit" , in: Stephan Braun, Ute Vogt (ed.): The weekly newspaper "Junge Freiheit" : Critical analyzes of the program, content, authors and customers , VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften , Wiesbaden 2007, pp. 193–215, here p. 194.
  3. ↑ ( Report No 1622, Département Protection Sécurité, Assemblée Nationale, May 26, 1999, p. 215 ( Memento of June 1, 2006 in the Internet Archive )).
  4. ↑ Pierre Milza: Facisme Français. Passé et present . Flammarion, Paris 1987, p. 371. According to Milza, GRECE comes from the “courant raciste, 'européen' et intellectuel du neo-fascisme français”.
  5. ↑ Alain de Benoist: In all friendship. Critical about the Germans , in: Criticon 60-61, 1980, p. 199.
  6. ^ Constitutional Protection Hamburg: Right-wing extremism in key words. Ideologies - Organizations - Activities , brochure June 2001, p. 53 ( online ).
  7. ↑ See profile: Europe in front at apabiz.de, accessed on March 10, 2017.
  8. ^ Constitutional Protection Report 2004, May 2005, p. 101, online text ( Memento from February 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
  9. ↑ The magazine boasts on its website that Benoist, like other "major intellectuals", from Carl Schmitt to Jürgen Habermas, has made it known in the USA.
  10. ↑ Alain de Benoist: Cultural Revolution from the Right. Gramsci and the Nouvelle Droite. Krefeld 1985, p. 14.
  11. ↑ Alain de Benoist: Cultural Revolution from the Right. Gramsci and the Nouvelle Droite. Krefeld 1985, p. 15.
  12. ↑ Alain de Benoist: A conversation with Alain de Benoist about the “Nouvelle Droite” and the “New Right”. In: Dieter Stein: Phantom “New Rights” . Edition JF, Berlin 2005, p. 177 f.
  13. ↑ Alain de Benoist, A conversation with Alain de Benoist about the “Nouvelle Droite” and the “New Right”. In: Dieter Stein, Phantom “New Right” . Edition JF, Berlin 2005, p. 175 f.
  14. ↑ Volker Weiß : The authoritarian revolt. The New Right and the Fall of the West. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2018, p. 219
  15. ↑ Alain de Benoist: Cultural Revolution from the Right. Gramsci and the Nouvelle Droite. Krefeld 1985, p. 27.
  16. ↑ Alain de Benoist: Cultural Revolution from the Right. Gramsci and the Nouvelle Droite. Krefeld 1985, p. 133.
  17. ↑ Miro Jennerjahn: New rights and paganism. On the functionality of an ideological construct ( Memento of August 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2006, pp. 11-19.
  18. ↑ Alain de Benoist: Critique of Human Rights. Why universalism and globalization threaten freedom. Edition JF, Berlin 2004, p. 10.
  19. ↑ Alain de Benoist: Critique of Human Rights. Why universalism and globalization threaten freedom. Edition JF, Berlin 2004, p. 73.
  20. ^ Mathias Brodkorb: On the way to esoteric eco-socialism? Alain de Benoist advocates a “culture of moderation” .
  21. ^ Sebastian Friedrich: Original and forgery . Ed .: Friday. Friday No. 17, April 26, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Benoist, Alain de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fabrice Laroche; James Barney; Robert de Herte
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French thought leader of the New Right
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Symphorien (Indre-et-Loire)