[atreestump]

The stream of consciousness within the alt-right I believe is in the thought of Jean Baudrillard and Alain De Benoist, both of these thinkers have had a massive influence over the New Right, Baudrillard influenced the themes in the Matrix movies, which as we know has become a powerful analogy for Alt-Right thought (hyper normality, simulacra etc). Benoist has spoken at the National Policy Institute (NPI) too. They are the right wing of Post-Modern philosophy.

The influence of Nietzsche on these thinkers is also of significance, as they take his master-slave view of social interactions to the extreme. One has to look towards thinkers like Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Deleuze and Guatarri for a more left leaning version of Nietzsche’s process philosophy, as they explain the herd instinct in terms of defiance and resistance, as opposed to weakness as strength.

They also don’t fall into the trap of Post-Truth (Post-Humanism) and nihilism, instead Foucault can offer an account of the body as a force, that power circulates in a capillary fashion through society and truth is a discourse that has created concepts such as identity out of oppression.

They are Anti-Humanist thinkers, looking for a balance between rationality and feelings and do not exclude the power that comes with truth. Benoist develops concepts of sovereignty and the friend-enemy relationship of Carl Schmitt (perhaps the most important political thinker of modern times). Also, check out his concept of Ethno-Pluralism, which is a fancy term for Nationalism.

Benoist at least is anti-capitalist, which is one way in which he attracts those who are more left-leaning. He also focuses on old Pagan beliefs as the ‘true’ identity of Europeans. Benoist has given the Right as form of identity politics, whereas Foucault sees identity as a creation of Humanist and Enlightenment thought, he sees the dynamics of power as much more significant, but it’s not power and coersion in terms of battles and wars, it’s more of a power that is exercised over and of bodies through cultural norms, performance, repeated actions, mimesis and normativity that then forms our subjectivity.

The power over the body is the force that partakes in ritual and ceremony, whereas power of the body is the source of our own will and desires, it is the source of revolution and resistance.

Basically, Foucault takes the ‘I’ out of the equation, as did David Hume during the formation of truth in the Enlightenment. Foucault seeks to inspire resistance in minorities and prisoners, a way of looking at power which is so deeply ingrained in our bodies that it is impossible to eradicate.

Where as Benoist seeks an identity politics of friends and enemies, Foucault brings us to a monism that we are all expressions of the Will to Power and seeks for a way to loosen up power structures so that hierarchies don’t become too fixed – in short, Foucault is against domination and acknowledges that whereever there is power, there is always a continuing resistance.

Foucault also rejects Marxist (Hegelian) progression through history towards an ideal.

[Descartes]

Interesting take on the philosophy behind the current political climate, not heard many people discuss Benoist before.

[Whisper]

Foucault also rejects Marxist progression through history towards an ideal.

Hegel, dude.

I’ve been pretty occupied academically as of recently. But, I would like to try to understand a lot more of where Alain De Benoist and Foucault diverge, this sounds interesting.

I am strongly sympathetic to Foucault in general.

I can be sympathetic to Alain De Benoist, in that my humanism does not emerge from secular ideals at all. Stuff like the expenditure of energy is still a loose ideal for me to talk about Social Justice. This is because of where freedom as well as social aid diverge, which is an insurmountable gap that the left understates.

See Discussion: Social Justice thread.

[atreestump]

Yes it is Hegel, I should have been more explicit, Marx was Hegelian anyway, after all.

I just edited the OP. I left out the contrast between Althusser and Foucault as I have not yet covered all of the Structuralists.

Benoist is a mixed bag to me too.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Author]

Posts