Reactionary
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In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the status quo ante—the previous political state of society—which the person believes possessed positive characteristics that are absent from contemporary society. As a descriptor term, reactionary derives from the ideological context of the left–right political spectrum. As an adjective, the word reactionary describes points of view and policies meant to restore a status quo ante.[1]
As an
Reactionary ideologies can be radical in the sense of political extremism in service to re-establishing past conditions. To some writers, the term reactionary carries negative connotations—Peter King observed that it is "an unsought-for label, used as a torment rather than a badge of honor."[5] Despite this, the descriptor "political reactionary" has been adopted by writers such as the Austrian monarchist Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn,[6] the Scottish journalist Gerald Warner of Craigenmaddie,[7] the Colombian political theologian Nicolás Gómez Dávila, and the American historian John Lukacs.[8]
History and usage
The
During the French Revolution, conservative forces (especially within the
In the 19th century, reactionary denoted people who idealized
Thermidorian Reaction
The
Restoration of the French monarchy
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Toryism |
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With the
It was the
Thus with the Bourbons Restoration, the Chambre Introuvable set about reverting every law to return society to conditions prior to the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV, when the power of the Second Estate was at its zenith. This clearly distinguishes a "reactionary" from a "conservative." The use of the word "reactionary" in later days as a political slur is thus often rhetorical since there is nothing directly comparable with the Chambre Introuvable in the history of other countries.
Clerical philosophers
In the
Metternich and containment
From 1815 to 1848,
After the Congress, Prince Metternich worked hard to bolster and stabilize the conservative regime of the Restoration period. He worked furiously to prevent Russia's Tsar
20th century
In the 20th century, proponents of
Reactionary is also used to denote supporters of
The
Conversely, they explained that fascism was of the right, not the left. Fascism was certainly not simply a return to tradition, as it carried the centralized state beyond even what had been seen in
Although the German
Political scientist Corey Robin argues that modern conservatism in the United States is fundamentally reactionary in his book The Reactionary Mind.[15]
21st century
Japan's right-wing nationalist and populist movements and related organizations, which emerged rapidly from the late 20th century, are considered "reactionary" because they revised the post-war peace constitution and have an advocating attitude toward the Japanese Empire.[16]
"Neo-reactionary" is a term that is sometimes a self-description of an informal group of online political theorists who have been active since the 2000s.[17] The phrase "neo-reactionary" was coined by "Mencius Moldbug" (the pseudonym of Curtis Yarvin, a computer programmer) in 2008.[18][19] Arnold Kling used it in 2010 to describe "Moldbug", and the subculture quickly adopted it.[17] Proponents of the "Neo-reactionary" movement (also called the "Dark Enlightenment" movement) include philosopher Nick Land, among others.[20]
See also
- Anti-modernization
- Backlash (sociology)
- Fundamentalism
- Loyalism
- Nostalgia
- Radical politics
- Restoration (disambiguation)
- Romanticism
- Rosy retrospection
- Royalism
Notable people
Persons who have at times been designated reactionaries, by themselves or others, include:
Russia
France
Germany
Note that Germany did not become united as a country until 1871. Metternich was born in the Holy Roman Empire.
Spain
Italy
Colombia
United States
United Kingdom
References
- ^ ISBN 9780002558716
- ISBN 9781590179024.
- ^ "reactionary". Lexico. Archived from the original on October 14, 2019.
- ^ "reactionary". Merriam-Webster.
- ^ King, Peter. Reaction: Against the modern world. Andrews UK Limited, 2012.
- ^ Credo of a Reactionary by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn – The American Mercury, under his alias Francis Stuart Campbell
- ^ "Scrap the meaningless terms Left and Right and reclaim the honourable title 'reactionary'". The Daily Telegraph. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 30 July 2010.
- ISBN 9781890318123.
- ^ a b The Governments of Europe, Frederic Austin OGG, Rev. Ed., The MacMillan Co., 1922, p. 485.
- ^ Carnot, L. N. M. (1799). Reply of L. N. M. Carnot, citizen of France ... to the report made on the conspiracy of the 18th Fructidor (3rd ed.). London: J. Wright. p. 149. Retrieved 11 March 2012 – via books.google.com.
- ISBN 978-0-691-17410-5.
- ^ Kit-ching (1978), p. 51.
- ISBN 978-0006353362.
- ^ Gerarchia, March, 1923 quoted in George Seldes, Facts and Fascism, eighth edition, New York: In Fact, 1943, p. 277.
- ^ "About". Corey Robin (coreyrobin.com). Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ISBN 9789811302565 – via Google Books.
the reactionary group Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference)—has been waging war over its shared past with China and South Korea on battlegrounds ranging from Yasukuni Shrine to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- ^ a b Finley, Klint (22 November 2013). "Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ "Unqualified Reservations: OL3: the Jacobite history of the world". unqualified-reservations.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Unqualified Reservations: OLX: a simple sovereign bankruptcy procedure". unqualified-reservations.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2015. (George Orwell used it in a different context in 1943 – Orwell, George (24 December 1943). "As I Please". Tribune.)
- ^ Walther, Matthew (January 23, 2014). "The Dark Enlightenment Is Silly Not Scary". The American Spectator. Archived from the original on 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
Bibliography
- Liberty or Equality, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Christendom Press, Front Royal, Virginia, 1993.
- Liberalism and the Challenge of Fascism, Social Forces in England and France 1815-1870, J. Salwyn Schapiro, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., NY, 1949. (with over 34 mentions of the word "reactionary" in political context)
- The Reactionary Revolution, The Catholic Revival in French Literature, 1870/1914, Richard Griffiths, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., NY, 1965.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 20 Vol. 31 references on the use of the term.
- Kit-ching, Chan Lau (1978). Anglo-Chinese Diplomacy 1906-1920: In the Careers of Sir John Jordan and Yüan Shih-kai. ISBN 962-209-010-9.
External links
- Media related to Reactionary at Wikimedia Commons