The Ideology of Political Reactionaries

Description

The Ideology of Political Reactionaries offers a new perspective on the beliefs reactionaries share, presenting a theory of reactionary ideology in the process. Rather than taking self-contradictions in the reactionary imagination as a reason for diminishment, complexity is taken as a challenge. The book argues that the features that unite reactionaries lie in rhetoric. Reactionaries make three persuasive appeals: to decadence, conspiracy, and indignation. They also display some recurrent styles. The book’s rhetorical approach entails a critique of the alternative approaches to reactionary politics (dubbed as ‘dispositional’, ‘sociological’, and ‘conceptual’). At the heart of the book is the textual analysis of the writings of a range of figures who are chosen in deliberate diversity and who have interacted with political audiences in different eras and settings: Edmund Burke, Joseph de Maistre, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Adolf Hitler, Éric Zemmour, Joe McCarthy, Anders Breivik, and Nigel Farage. Analysis of their writings helps the book to reckon with some particular puzzles of ideologies and rhetoric. These puzzles include the proximity of reactionaries to conservatism, the ambiguity of their nostalgia, the myth of their essential charisma, and the apparent fetishization of facts. The Ideology of Political Reactionaries ought to interest anyone concerned about current ideological trends and, in particular, students and scholars of politics and history. Cover Endorsement Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction: Reactionaries From Dispositions to Rhetoric Reviving ‘Reaction’ A Dispositional Approach A Sociological Approach A Conceptual Approach Reviving Rhetoric How Not to Study Reactionary Rhetoric The Diatribe Three Reactionary Pillars Notes References Part I Indignation: The Pathos of Reaction 1 Edmund Burke and Joseph De Maistre Reflections On the Revolution in France Introducing France to Englishmen Narrating the Unfolding Present Demonstrating in Three Stages Denouncing One’s Own Denouncing History Remembering the Good Society Ending in Exhaustion Considerations On France Introducing God to Frenchmen Narrating Divine Punishment Demonstrating and Refuting Admonishing Frenchmen (And Oneself?) Comprehending Sacrifice Three Refutations Ending Irritably Why the Divide Between Reactionaries and Conservatives Is Blurred Notes References 2 Sarah Palin and Donald Trump America By Heart Introducing By ‘Real’ People Narrating ‘Confidence’ in America (And Self) Demonstrating Through Repetition A Multipurpose Argument Over-Citing and Often ‘Mimicking’ Ending By Flat Anecdote Crippled America Introducing Anger (In Word and Image) Making EVERYTHING Great Again (Without a Plan) Demonstrating By Digressing Blaming Perceptions Blaming Migrants Ending By Brash Anecdote Getting Reaction’s Emotion Right Notes References Part II Decadence: The Logos of Reaction 3 Adolf Hitler and Nazism Mein Kampf Introducing Destiny (And Sacrifice) Narrating ‘The Social Question’ and ‘The Jewish Question’ Proof of Collapse From Vienna to Berlin (Some Symptoms) The Mixing of the Blood (A Diagnosis) A Defiant Ending Why Reactionaries Are Not Illogical Notes References 4 Éric Zemmour and Les Nouveaux Réactionnaires Le Suicide Français Introducing the National Story Narrating the Death of the Father Proof of Diminishment From Sex to Football to Vichy (Some Symptoms) Revenge of the Colonials (In Lieu of a Diagnosis) A Fatalistic Ending? The Myth of Reaction’s Essential Nostalgia Notes References Part III Conspiracy: The Ethos of Reaction 5 Senator Joe McCarthy The Fight for America Introducing By Compère Narrating By Big Reveal Proving and Refuting By Q&A Lining-Up Rogues, Repeating the Question Fallacies of Conspiracy Innuendo, a Gambler’s Thinking, and Gossip Go Forth and Exfiltrate How Reactionaries Ask for Our Trust Note References 6 Anders Breivik 2083 – A European Declaration of Independence Setting Out an Instruction Manual Demonstrating ‘What You Need to Know’ The Conspirators of Cultural Marxism And/or Islam Appeal to Mathematical Arguments Alternative History-Writing The Unfinished Ending Why Reactionaries Often Fetishise Facts Notes References 7 Nigel Farage The Purple Revolution Presenting the Jester Stamping Broad Appeal Arguing Autobiographically Conspiracy-Lite (Or Low-Alcohol Conspiracy) Decadence Muddled in Two Theories Thanet Or Bust Why Reactionaries Are Not Necessarily Charismatic Notes References Conclusion: Reactionaries From Appeals to Styles Three Essential Pillars Three Transposable Styles References Index