Reactionism

Richard Shorten

doi:10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_321-1

Reactionism

Richard Shorten^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Political Science and International Studies

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary

Abstract

Reactionism is a twenty-first century mode of politics with long provenance. Lately, it tends to have four main articulations: national populism, the alt-right, neo-fascism, and antimodernism. Inhabiting a right-wing space beyond conservatism (but only uncomfortably distinguished from it), reactionism has been a puzzle, variously, for political analysis, historical explanation, and moral criticism. This essay describes an overlapping commonality in commitments to inequality, but meanwhile finds fault with Marxian approaches and those indebted foremost to philosophy or psychology. What may better serve sense-making exercises across politics, history and ethics is an approach prioritizing rhetoric. As such, reactionism is found constituted in three interrelated pillars (‘decadence’, ‘indignation’, and ‘conspiracy’). What may take future study forward is greater attention to the detail of reactionary expression in nonconventional forms and settings.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Encyclopedia of New Populism and Responses in the 21st Century
Editors	Joseph Chacko Chennattuserry, Madhumati Deshpande, Paul Hong
Place of Publication	Singapore
Publisher	Springer Nature
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9789811698590
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_321-1
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 2023

Bibliographical note

Not yet published as of 13/12/2023

Access to Document

10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_321-1Licence: None: All rights reserved

Cite this

@inbook{c8a8d9545cf048238e3cf9ac73d7117f,

title = "Reactionism",

abstract = "Reactionism is a twenty-first century mode of politics with long provenance. Lately, it tends to have four main articulations: national populism, the alt-right, neo-fascism, and antimodernism. Inhabiting a right-wing space beyond conservatism (but only uncomfortably distinguished from it), reactionism has been a puzzle, variously, for political analysis, historical explanation, and moral criticism. This essay describes an overlapping commonality in commitments to inequality, but meanwhile finds fault with Marxian approaches and those indebted foremost to philosophy or psychology. What may better serve sense-making exercises across politics, history and ethics is an approach prioritizing rhetoric. As such, reactionism is found constituted in three interrelated pillars ({\textquoteleft}decadence{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}indignation{\textquoteright}, and {\textquoteleft}conspiracy{\textquoteright}). What may take future study forward is greater attention to the detail of reactionary expression in nonconventional forms and settings.",

author = "Richard Shorten",

note = "Not yet published as of 13/12/2023",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_321-1",

language = "English",

editor = "{Chacko Chennattuserry}, {Joseph } and Deshpande, {Madhumati } and Paul Hong",

booktitle = "Encyclopedia of New Populism and Responses in the 21st Century",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

address = "United States",

edition = "1",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - Reactionism

AU - Shorten, Richard

N1 - Not yet published as of 13/12/2023

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Reactionism is a twenty-first century mode of politics with long provenance. Lately, it tends to have four main articulations: national populism, the alt-right, neo-fascism, and antimodernism. Inhabiting a right-wing space beyond conservatism (but only uncomfortably distinguished from it), reactionism has been a puzzle, variously, for political analysis, historical explanation, and moral criticism. This essay describes an overlapping commonality in commitments to inequality, but meanwhile finds fault with Marxian approaches and those indebted foremost to philosophy or psychology. What may better serve sense-making exercises across politics, history and ethics is an approach prioritizing rhetoric. As such, reactionism is found constituted in three interrelated pillars (‘decadence’, ‘indignation’, and ‘conspiracy’). What may take future study forward is greater attention to the detail of reactionary expression in nonconventional forms and settings.

AB - Reactionism is a twenty-first century mode of politics with long provenance. Lately, it tends to have four main articulations: national populism, the alt-right, neo-fascism, and antimodernism. Inhabiting a right-wing space beyond conservatism (but only uncomfortably distinguished from it), reactionism has been a puzzle, variously, for political analysis, historical explanation, and moral criticism. This essay describes an overlapping commonality in commitments to inequality, but meanwhile finds fault with Marxian approaches and those indebted foremost to philosophy or psychology. What may better serve sense-making exercises across politics, history and ethics is an approach prioritizing rhetoric. As such, reactionism is found constituted in three interrelated pillars (‘decadence’, ‘indignation’, and ‘conspiracy’). What may take future study forward is greater attention to the detail of reactionary expression in nonconventional forms and settings.

UR - https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0

U2 - 10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_321-1

DO - 10.1007/978-981-16-9859-0_321-1

M3 - Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary

BT - Encyclopedia of New Populism and Responses in the 21st Century

A2 - Chacko Chennattuserry, Joseph

A2 - Deshpande, Madhumati

A2 - Hong, Paul

PB - Springer Nature

CY - Singapore

ER -

Reactionism

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this