The Ideology of the New Right and Religious Conservativism. Towards an Ethical Critique of the New Politics of Authoritarianism

This article analyses thei deological matrix of the so-called right-wing populist movements,which was developed by AlaindeBenoist, the founderofthe NouvelleDroite in France.The ideology of theNew Right breaks with two dogmas of the old fascism:racism and the abolition of democracy.DeBenoist replacesracism with ethnopluralismand aims at ar adicalr eform of democracy.I nspired by the model of Athenian polis, de Benoist propagates the concept of an "organic democracy" based on ethnic homogeneity.Thus, the idea of pre-statehuman rights is criticized as ideological productofChristianity and the Enlightenment. Fort hat reason,t he ideology of the NewR ight has not only an illiberal but also aneo-pagan agenda. Forthat reasonChristian alliances with new-rightist movements involvethemselves in ideological contradictions.T he perversions of Christian ethics through an ethnic concept of democracy can be illustrated by Victor Orbns foundation of an "illiberal state" in Hungary.Thus,this ideology aims to erode both the democratic constitutional state and the universalistic dimension of Christian ethics.