Key Thinkers of the Radical Right Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy

Since the start of the twenty-first century, the political mainstream has been shifting to the right. The liberal orthodoxy that took hold in the West as a reaction to the Second World War is breaking down. In Europe, populist political parties have pulled the mainstream in their direction; in America, a series of challenges to the Republican mainstream culminated in the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

In Key Thinkers of the Radical Right, sixteen expert scholars explain sixteen thinkers, providing an introduction to their life and work, a guide to their thought, and an explanation of their work's reception. The chapters focus on thinkers who are widely read across the political right in both Europe and America, such as Julius Evola, Alain de Benoist, and Richard B. Spencer. Featuring classic, modern, and emerging thinkers, this selection provides a good representation of the intellectual right and avoids making political or value judgments. In an increasingly polarized political environment, Key Thinkers of the Radical Right offers a comprehensive and unbiased introduction to the thinkers who form the foundation of the radical right.

Mark Sedgwick was born in England and studied history of Oxford University before emigrating to Egypt. He received his PhD at the University of Bergen in Norway, taught history at the American University in Cairo, and then moved to Denmark to teach in the Department of the Study of Religion at Aarhus University. He was secretary of the European Society of the Study of Western Esotericism; he first became aware of the connections between esotericism and radical politics while working on his PhD.

Introduction by Mark Sedgwick

Section I: Classic Thinkers
Chapter 1: Oswald Spengler and the Decline of the West by David Engels
Chapter 2: Ernst Jünger and the Storm of Steel by Elliot Y. Neaman
Chapter 3: Carl Schmitt and the Concept of the Political by Reinhard Mehring
Chapter 4: Julius Evola and Tradition by H. Tomas Hakl

Section II: Modern Thinkers
Chapter 5: Alain de Benoist and the New Right by Jean-Yves Camus
Chapter 6: Guillaume Faye and Identitarianism by Stéphane François
Chapter 7: Paul Gottfried and Paleoconservatism by Seth Bartee
Chapter 8: Patrick J. Buchanan and the Death of the West by Edward Ashbee
Chapter 9: Jared Taylor and White Identity by Russell Nieli
Chapter 10: Alexander Dugin and Eurasianism by Marlene Laruelle
Chapter 11: Bat Ye'or and Eurabia by Sindre Bangstad

Section III: Emergent Thinkers
Chapter 12: Mencius Moldbug and the Reactionary Enlightenment by Joshua Tait
Chapter 13: Greg Johnson and Counter-Currents by Graham Macklin
Chapter 14: Richard B. Spencer and the Alt Right by Tamir Bar-On
Chapter 15: Jack Donovan and Male Tribalism by Matthew N. Lyons
Chapter 16: Daniel Friberg and Expressive Culture by Benjamin Teitelbaum

Notes
Bibliography
Index