Neue Rechte
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Neue Rechte (English: New Right) is the designation for a
A common denominator of the Neue Rechte is a skeptical or negative stance towards the basic tenets of the
) nationalism.History
When the far-right
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
The movement gained a new momentum in the course of
Ideology
Historically, the Neue Rechte is linked to the positions of right-wing ideologues in the
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 Racist elements are superseded by the concept of ethnopluralism, combining both neoconservative and far-right approaches.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
So far, 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.
Networks
Well-known scholars and influential figures of the Neue Rechte beside Henning Eichberg and Armin Mohler include
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
References
- ^ "Der umstrittene Begriff des Faschismus". Interview in: DISS-Journal 13, 2004, p. 13 (in German).
Further reading
- Minkenberg, Michael (2000). "The Renewal of the Radical Right: Between Modernity and Anti-modernity". Government and Opposition. 35 (2): 170–188. S2CID 144136434.
- Minkenberg, Michael, Die Neue Radikale Rechte im Vergleich: USA, Frankreich, Deutschland, Opladen: Westdt. Verl. 1998, 411 S., ISBN 3-531-13227-X
- Jay Julian Rosellini, The German New Right: AfD, PEGIDA, and the Re-imagining of German Identity (London: Hurst Publishers, 2019).
- Woods, Roger (2005). "Affirmative Past Versus Cultural Pessimism: The New Right Since German Unification". German Life and Letters. 58 (1): 93–107. .
- Roger Woods, Germany's New Right as Culture and Politics (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).