Reactionary Vanguards and the Social Question (or, Contemporary Vulnerability Politics Between Left and Right Decontestations)

“The social question” in modern politics—iterated in several languages (la question sociale, der soziale fraga)—has historically summarized a range of popular discontents thrown up by modernization processes, with industrialization (and its corresponding new inequities and hardships) being at the center of those processes.1 In contemporary politics, “vulnerability” has started to appear in its place, denoting the range of wounds that social experience—as much as naturally occurring phenomena like certain environmental events, or disease, or deterioration by age—can inflict upon people (vulnerare is Latin for “to wound,” and, etymologically, vulnerability is liability to wound OED).2 To the original social question, Karl Marx was one of the first theorists and political ideologists to answer by reference to vanguardism; in doing so, he was tempted by an option in modern politics alternative to the form of organization that progressives have conventionally supported, which is electoral and constitutional democracy. Marx moved towards that option because, as he explained in the Communist Manifesto, History would not do its work unaided: The new industrial masses, afflicted by the social question, would not develop class consciousness independently, therefore a coterie of advanced, sympathetic thinkers ahead of “the line of march”3 would need to assume a hierarchized leadership role, prospectively in either spreading consciousness or directing political action.4 Revolutionary vanguards would thereby answer the social question by a particular kind of political response. After Marx, Left thinkers and ideologists would adapt, and sometimes mediate, vanguardism: Broadly, Lenin shifted the composition of the coterie from theorists to professional revolutionaries, Gramsci argued for coteries to win “hegemony” through cultural institutions, and certain thinkers within the mainstream of European social democracy were lukewarm converts to parliamentary reformism, making their embrace conditional upon acquiring political advantage.5Vanguardists of the Left were not alone among modern thinkers and ideologists in proposing this response, however, because some reactionaries—although notionally preoccupied with different aspects of modern experience (religion, culture, morality, ultimate human purposes, etc.)—also came to endorse vanguardism, perceiving this organizational form to be necessary granted the variable extents of “true” knowledge of the social and political worlds among the populations with whom they identified.6 Reactionary vanguards were distinct—politically, they often entailed no principled regret that a more democratic mode of organization was not feasible. But they bore the same pattern: Access to truth depends upon group association, but even group membership is not a sufficient condition, and hence only a subgroup therein may possess the positionality to penetrate to it.7 Accordingly, whenever a subgroup's will to realize such a truth is thwarted, the outcomes of democratic elections held within constitutional states may be treated superficially. Hence the antisemitic street fighting of the fin-de-siècle Third Republic France,8 hence Mussolini's March on Rome or the abolition of German democracy by the Nazis after the Reichstag fire,9 hence disturbances in the American South after the Supreme Court's decision against segregation in schools,10 hence, also in the US, the firebombing of clinics enabling women's access to abortion in the era of upholding Roe v. Wade.11The contention of the present article is that, in contemporary politics, the current reactionary turn is at one level an inheritance of this reactionary vanguardist tradition, by speaking to discontented masses—now in deindustrializing as well as industrialized societies—who are lately being recruited towards the political conclusions which the reactionary leaders draw.12 Hence, and corresponding to the historical examples just given: the attempt of parts of the MAGA movement to subvert the electoral outcome by insurgency at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, the Southport Riots of British ethnic nationalism in summer 2024, or Boris Johnson's proroguing of the UK parliament in order to force through “hard Brexit” in 2019. An important qualifier is that this is by no means the only level of explanation for a reactionary turn. Arguably the complementary level of explanation is not popular sentiment but, conversely, a process very much at the mainstream of institutional political life, namely the drift of center-right politicians to more full-blooded reactionary positions by a “slippery slope” (perhaps enabled by the intrinsic vagueness of any philosophical core to “conservatism”).13With such sympathies stated upfront, my primary intended audience of the article is fellow progressives. That comprises trying to persuade progressives as follows: The vulnerability agenda is both a desirable political project and consistent with core progressive commitments; but since there exists a right-wing vulnerability politics, progressives ought to care about this, too (section 1). Why they ought to care, precisely, is not that they ought to hold sympathy for the political conclusions which reactionary recruits draw, but rather for the wounding social experiences that leave them prone to these conclusions. Of such wounding social experiences, media commentary makes everyone highly familiar with two already: what may be called the “argument from immigration concerns,” seen as threatening people's employment opportunities or welfare provision; and the “argument from wokeism,” seen as threatening people's rights to authentic expression (section 2). But, in the least, this familiarity crowds out consideration of of which may their in the from political and be to contemporary to upon the of in (section out the will that by progressives do more those by some In the is that a by which progressives to vulnerability on the is to to but rather to a of certain and and be to core progressive such as and vulnerability is has both in the popular and in the and social In the and popular the is that the vulnerability agenda is this article for a more on the experience of contemporary of reactionary politics in its one for which is that ought not to be with the of has that, in media “the and the people of people with and those with of and of The is that there may also the within the on first they for to reactionary of vulnerability politics is within the but one and as a for the present is the by The and of in in both and a vulnerability is in the process of for present its be to at and vulnerability means and To the of the human to the and being to being by with to the of being by those is what is by vulnerability may be which social to or thereby being to in by like and and with the that these be in which the are to be the in vulnerability is upon to as in one of the to the of vulnerability is to the of people's to wounds or wounding is the of In cultural the of vulnerability with and like and of and like conversely, to more like and first of political a cultural vulnerability with and “vulnerability” among that were for by the first from to and political level some that do more to on vulnerability as a of contention and which right-wing as well as The of to the as one level of will be the in about by the reactionary To such a may an of what is both and particular to reactionary political in and reactionary and vulnerability and from a of the In in modern politics, from the reactionary political and by the of the and to and these to and vulnerability In the contemporary right-wing of there exists no one a may be to several of which for and these of are and and the which sometimes political and cultural their the of the of their through the of one that, they on the of with has and the present is has like so, and certain people in about which they are The may be is present a of in a of deterioration that has some of with the and has about by some of from in the political with the with and and with a process of the of the The is But vulnerability is within this of what to be seen is the of wounding In an History has not only has also is the political of which the of which is a and which be on the one from but on the from which is in and to of a The of are and the reactionary of the contemporary such a at are as follows: for at and the at and and and at or But such are of an what is is a of what a of in the process of a to in reactionary and the of is the be with of a the is as a mode of political that is alternative to in electoral political as is in and constitutional In present politics, are to cultural from “the political in the media or in Reactionary are from by their to these and The of these from the inheritance of on the modern because are human not or social the of right-wing are to for the different in which certain Left vanguardist to be by the of the contemporary may be that are about about the of their or about of their they are about well as commentary from of political very two of populations the of reactionary in vulnerability these are wounding by the from immigration and cultural the from a vulnerability agenda to such in the first as well as their in the to political on their in this is a in are called with both people and social worlds that may be to from on and and towards both from the and the social in which such are of may be in the of for and reactionary and since such sentiment is and the of is is a Broadly, a to political and and in the of and In of these contemporary which right-wing political be a for for political explanation for popular reactionary to the that is is that by the of and the people with employment welfare are to to for employment and to welfare people are to be political and that to and The of this by political in media the of and the social and an in the media have by no means this explanation their since some progressive have with of a political in of the that the in has which is by and social is not an since there exists a of and a of or a to and not just “the social question” in the is not lately has in by the of in have to the of are those from the on of their their their for the however, this to be and because, for is more as the of through of to a of and political was to the of the from to the “argument from immigration has an is to the which are the of of the reactionary which to be to to the to the vulnerability The of and are center wounding and but in what be called this is but is an of is of the which was as a on the In the in that the order the in is to be for The of to the experience of a in the in a an is a in the is also but in is to being from of by the of the which is its and its a the of being on the of The with are by on their of being in a with the the is the of a which political are to and in one because of the of in of and are the to in to and the of the reactionary turn through the of the of human the of the reactionary political explanation for popular reactionary to the that cultural is is that institutional of a movement by a people in what they and or in to be intrinsic to their core and and of and is to a cultural people are by political or with this of being to to to new and cultural The of this from political by in the media the of the of or the of the some progressives have what they to the same explanation in a more to in in in on a in sympathetic that there is core and at in cultural being to social and To need to the the that, in and cultural in Left and there is as much that is as in such cultural in to the or reactionary a of at group and like the from immigration the “argument from on a primary is a the of from the cultural wound of the of the is not for as but rather the of one of is a cultural by the of the in the American or But the has more of a not from the and to sympathy from progressives. is in one of the of culture, by one of of the that cultural towards progressive positions in the of The an for in the a upon and is from the social to the by or a that thereby the notionally of The of to the with which this is hence and with an is a is from the of this is to sympathy for those on the of institutional But is the (and not the of the or is a in an the of the to the of a of in a and with a but has for the cultural which the like is a of a the of for In are in on are because its are and the up in for trying to The for with reactionary which are in either or may be there to be in the of vulnerability which progressive theorists the of this of the is to what be as of in contemporary social and political within its of in the vulnerability is a is and a is within the of is an and is may be that is a of that is and that is my such is because the ought to from the of the with force to the which the being to progressives is that the wounds of of what the ought to like and be the first of social and political a to the of within care which out of with on the consideration of within with which is notionally in a social and may be with of as by the of the from which the of on whom the in by progressive care is as by or in as by either the social of certain and or and by the from or of people of the of these of wound may also to social from the parts of a some of contemporary right-wing but this by a the and of by from the by The and by to the vulnerability of is of this through the of but its in a has for to the to within the political in the of and the American of the by the US to the of those In in the of they that was a for of the and from that a this by the of has not much is the to within the populations of even is in the and of and have both that is in of to those in has for that of the and of has some in the that has the of MAGA as in the outcome of the of 2024, to and the of popular for after the and from the expression to the parts of reactionary that and and as has may vulnerability to The of contemporary reactionary politics in is to the of reactionary in its that within politics, its to such is being to being in the of either electoral or the of by The of 6 January 2021, of to at the of an electoral outcome by one highly of nationalism with from the one is a has in with the is about the of immigration to of a not against The as as they The in the and among even is present in a but in a and a which has a from a in the the of whom has of the since the of and to have as to the the was to people like in a more the their with the and of their of and with the same and the same they a to the people came after the of the range of the reactionary the also of to the vulnerability of the through the and In the the have their to the is from too by to them their any after is to that the of care for the and the more is for at the in in and on and which is the in what he would be the kind of to up with right-wing that was too in the of to be of this The also to vulnerability by is by for the with the of care that are The of the means that the are in the the on for the such as have in to there is no of for that are are to is the of the of in some the process is The with a of up of for the some kind of process like is the to the the of and to and by the is there are some even the is not he is and and and with new and was In the and has one of the the through In the of its he not that is also a with vanguardism; hence the this in the the was to at about my or he those access to a kind of of this is of in to he in an by and to more with The vulnerability is “The of was but one he out a a in a is only in the of a the is by the is to in the that he a and to more to that there be of in that are by a by to ahead in of being moved to in a more of and the is a from like this on these the to the a in The by on its in as is an that on from the of from the are with a in which the and reactionary in its is as the of the from the The the for a by the of some The lately is to the as he The also has an is to the and as the of the the but is about the a is what for the to are The a out is a and a of is the and that and which of are in the that they or for of either or against people of or in a is to be in in are and what a their but and about is as The of of he like a an that was as as came out of the the of such what also were like of in from the he of which is The that the of is to to media of and from the in may be is the of vulnerability the of what is in the upon the the of with the of In several the the and to the The in its rather is an which be as an of and The is also the original Left of the because of its on in the of the In to to Left vanguardism, what is that the are the of the of their the with the he at the of he is a with the of a and, in the he in a he is being on in the he will of the is he is with of (and both and on he in with an social he is by a group an at a that he for being and and hence is that he is also at being by this is a of the has and on the of to the of vulnerability by has a in the social and political of the is in to but also to the social as he as the in the to and very the wound in not to is to be of the possess upon they a out the and and the to the is in and and of the to is the the human experience of some to be of of to of and at which in the is by from of life, of to as and the of of one these or of experience have not to about reactionary political may by in to The of is to of of of he is since that he ought to have by by its by its in my through at on is for with to by in to is as in the that the their the on the an of he to The to to what has a that and in of to an alternative a are and the is a with the of and the of a vulnerability about the and in the the of the to be the the is the of the social the for a by which is and the that no is in only the to human and the and of the has a about the In the of in the one he by in in human to be by and a not just for but for everyone and The to is in the an he by the the the that rather electoral democracy have to be for more notionally because were of on of immigration and particular political of is to right-wing not by of what as in the but upon of vulnerability and in the to is the and the of human is either or The project has about the the in the he has of and of he has not to a in alone he that the of is “the of in which my The on progressive at on the US of which the of is nationalism from the and the with the of there exists at a of contemporary which is and which is in a The by In The is is the of which is the from some of the of in a and and, of the in The is in the of the The of a in he will on the what is they for by by of social ethnic by of a of to the but the on a vanguardist organizational one to the by in in a which out the two organizational of the of the the up with the with The like the may to the in their to the of or to consciousness by of institutional democratic for either enabling or in the the by which to the of by the as is a of because the as an of a The that this is a with in the of the because of the in the of that an and as an to the of whom by a on also of the is by the as a of was by the British in a The also there are that a exists to German and that “the is by with their which the in the of and the of on the of the of The the in as the of being or in the of a is the of vulnerability which is may well be in The is the which and the are as to the of the in with the of German familiar in contemporary commentary on the is that in the of the that leave them to right-wing are of as well for the from the new and for the the the the of an is a was a of and with a in the he and in with in the has since by this and is means of of an which the a with a to the with the the of for in the that an after has and of a from organizational The of the is the of a the and a from this and to the alternative organizational not the one the in this have in some the of the the of of up for the the and “to from the of and for the being from any of the in of an and for this in the project to new kind of in the but of the will by to the as to and in the center to which was and at and in as that there is the is a in the and this is by that no one will such a to the new of and and and and But, in of being is to the in of to a the with in for from is by the that this will from on the same pattern: just from my from of care within vulnerability the The in that are is the of vulnerability which be to center on the of to be on the care have means either or is to care which is as the of political towards as to and the of that may a to the reactionary is one of The is the in care for the that, vulnerability to progressive vulnerability politics for against of that the or a of care, such that of such a social be for political and on the care in the of that has care both and care not to the but the particular or this for and in the of this develop their in social of care and be to The just as be to from the of he for in such a not in the of any in the to he about trying to some from from for he is in first out and to care he to to and there to and he from for he need not to be of either too or he is to the of to their about “the and of in But he not force them on and in the of and are sympathetic and of sympathy is to to the of political hold of the the of contemporary right-wing politics leave or is too that by the in which vulnerability this what have to is the for popular to reactionary vanguardism, in its The has to that two are are they in such In also to some in political there the explanation from immigration and, from The have is a of a certain and the is a of cultural a certain has not my to the of these but rather to the of from to by the of contemporary In the of that what may appear is the of a for progressive to either or cultural and to more original for right-wing and to to and to is a not for as rather for will the that either to reactionary political sentiment or is making contemporary vulnerability politics and the reactionary turn for at one and the same