Alain De Benoist
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Alain de Benoist (; ; born 11 December 1943) – also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other
pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...
s – is a French journalist and political philosopher, a founding member of the
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
("New Right"), and the leader of the
ethno-nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politic ...
think tank
GRECE The Groupement de Recherche et d'Études pour la Civilisation Européenne ("Research and Study Group for European Civilization"), better known as GRECE, is a French ethnonationalist think tank founded in 1968 to promote the ideas of the Nouvelle ...
. Principally influenced by thinkers of the German Conservative Revolution, de Benoist is opposed to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, the
rights of man ''Rights of Man'' (1791), a book by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. Using these points as a base it defends the ...
,
neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
,
representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represen ...
,
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
; and what he sees as embodying and promoting those values, namely the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. He theorized the notion of
ethnopluralism Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism, also known as ethno-differentialism, is a political concept which relies on preserving and mutually respecting separate and bordered ethno-cultural regions. Among the key components are the "right to difference" ( ...
, a concept which relies on preserving and mutually respecting individual and bordered ethno-cultural regions. His work has been influential with the
alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
movement in the United States, and he presented a lecture on identity at a
National Policy Institute The National Policy Institute (NPI) is a white supremacist think tank and lobbying group which is based in Alexandria, Virginia. It lobbies for white supremacists and the alt-right. Its president is Richard B. Spencer. It has been largely ina ...
conference hosted by
Richard B. Spencer Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 1978) is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and white supremacist. A former editor, he is a public speaker and activist on behalf of the alt-right movement. He advocates for the r ...
; however, he has distanced himself from the movement.


Biography


Family

Alain de Benoist was born on 11 December 1943 in Saint-Symphorien (now part of
Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
),
Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...
, the son of a head of sales at
Guerlain Guerlain () is a French perfume, cosmetics and skincare house, which is among the oldest in the world. Many traditional Guerlain fragrances are characterized by a common olfactory accord known as the "Guerlinade" (fr). The house was founded in P ...
, also named Alain de Benoist, and Germaine de Benoist,
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Langouët. He grew up in a bourgeois and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
family. His mother came from the lower-middle class of
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
and
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, and his father belonged to the Belgian nobility. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, his father was a member of the Resistance armed group
French Forces of the Interior The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...
. He was a self-declared
Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...
, whereas his wife Germaine was rather left-leaning, and the extended de Benoist family was divided between
Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
and
Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
during the conflict. His paternal grandmother, Yvonnes de Benoist, was the secretary of
Gustave Le Bon Charles-Marie Gustave Le Bon (; 7 May 1841 – 13 December 1931) was a leading French polymath whose areas of interest included anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, invention, and physics. He is best known for his 1895 work '' The Crow ...
. De Benoist is also the great-nephew of French
Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
painter
Gustave Moreau Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...
.


Early life (1957–1961)

De Benoist was still in high school at Lycée Montaigne and Louis-le-Grand during the turmoils of the
Algerian war The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
(1954-1962), a period that shaped his political views. In 1957, he met the daughter of the
antisemite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
journalist and
conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
Henry Coston. From the age of 15, de Benoist became interested in the nationalist right; he started a career as a journalist in 1960 by writing literary pieces and pamphlets for Coston's magazine ''Lectures Françaises'', generally in defence of the
French colonial empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
and the pro-colonial paramilitary organization
Organisation Armée Secrète The ''Organisation Armée Secrète'' (OAS, "Secret Armed Organisation") was a far-right French dissident paramilitary organisation during the Algerian War. The OAS carried out terrorist attacks, including bombings and assassinations, in an att ...
(OAS). However, de Benoist stayed away from Coston’s conspiracy theories on the
Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and the Jews. Aged 17 in 1961, he met
François d'Orcival Amaury de Chaunac-Lanzac (born 11 February 1942), better known as François d'Orcival, is a French conservative journalist and essayist. He is the president of the editorial committee at '' Valeurs Actuelles'' and sits on the board of directors of ...
, with whom he became the editor of ''France Information'', an underground pro-OAS newspaper. The same year, de Benoist started to attend the
University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
and joined the far-right student society
Federation of Nationalist Students The Federation of Nationalist Students (''french: Fédération des Étudiants Nationalistes'', FEN) was a French far-right student society active between 1960 and 1967, founded by François d'Orcival and others, soon joined by Alain de Benoist as ...
(FEN). In 1962, he became the secretary of the group's magazine, ''Cahiers universitaires'', in which he wrote the main articles along with d'Orcival. As a student in law and literature, he began a period of political activism and developed a passion for fantastique cinema. According to philosopher
Pierre-André Taguieff Pierre-André Taguieff (born 4 August 1946) is a French philosopher who has specialised in the study of racism and antisemitism. He is the director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in an Institut d'Etudes Politique ...
, de Benoist possessed an intellectual curiosity that was lacking among his elder colleagues like
Dominique Venner Dominique Venner (; 16 April 1935 – 21 May 2013) was a French historian, journalist and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding '' Europe-Action'', before w ...
(1935–2013) or
Jean Mabire Jean Mabire (8 February 1927—29 March 2006) was a French journalist and essayist. A neo-pagan and nordicist, Mabire is known for the regionalist and euronationalist ideas that he developed in both ''Europe-Action'' and GRECE, as well as his c ...
(1927–2006), and the young journalist led them to discover a conceptual universe "that they could not imagine", no more than its "possible ideological exploitations".


Radical political activism (1962–1967)

De Benoist met
Dominique Venner Dominique Venner (; 16 April 1935 – 21 May 2013) was a French historian, journalist and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding '' Europe-Action'', before w ...
in 1962. The following year, he took part in the creation of ''
Europe-Action ''Europe-Action'' was a far-right white nationalist and euro-nationalist magazine and movement, founded by Dominique Venner in 1963 and active until 1966. Distancing itself from pre-WWII fascist ideas such as anti-intellectualism, anti-parliame ...
'', a
white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...
magazine founded by Venner and in which de Benoist began to work as a journalist. He published at that times his first essays: ''
Salan ] Salan, Salanus or Zalan ( Bulgarian language, Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Салан or Залан; hu, Zalán; ro, Salanus) was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a local Bulgarianhttp://keptar.niif.hu/000500/000586/magyaro-honf-terke ...
devant l'opinion'' ("Salan faces the ublicopinion", 1963) and ''Le courage est leur patrie'' ("Braveness is their motherland", 1965), defending
French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...
and the
OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
. Between 1963 and 1965, de Benoist was a member of the
Rationalist Union The Rationalist Union ( French: ''Union rationaliste'') is a French nonprofit organization founded in 1930 that promotes the role of reason. Many of the members are scientists, members of the Institut de France, Nobel Prize laureates, professor ...
; he probably began to read
Louis Rougier Louis Auguste Paul Rougier (; 10 April 1889 – 14 October 1982) was a French philosopher. Rougier made many important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science, political philosophy and the history of Christianity. Early life Rougie ...
's
criticism of Christianity Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion during the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as Christian actions, from the Crusades to moder ...
during that period. De Benoist met Rougier, who was also a member of the organization, and his ideas deeply influenced de Benoist's own
anti-Christianity Anti-Christian sentiment or Christophobia constitutes opposition or objections to Christians, the Christian religion, and/or its practices. Anti-Christian sentiment is sometimes referred to as Christophobia or Christianophobia, although these terms ...
. "We oppose Rougier to
Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
", de Benoist wrote in 1965, "as we oppose verbal delirium to logics .. because biological realism is the best support against those idealistic chimeras". De Benoist became in 1964 the editor-in-chief of the weekly publication ''Europe-Action Hebdomaire'', renamed ''L'Observateur Européen'' in October 1966. He also wrote in the
neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sent ...
magazine ''
Défense de l'Occident ''Défense de l’Occident'' (English: ''Defense of the West'') was a French neo-fascist magazine founded by Maurice Bardèche and published from 1952 to 1982. It was the most significant far-right magazine in post-WWII France, providing an arena ...
'', founded in 1952 by
Maurice Bardèche Maurice Bardèche (1 October 1907 – 30 July 1998) was a French art critic and journalist, better known as one of the leading exponents of neo-fascism in post–World War II Europe. Bardèche was also the brother-in-law of the collaborationist ...
. After a visit to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
at the invitation of
Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of ''Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...
's National Party government, de Benoist co-wrote with Gilles Fournier the 1965 essay ''Vérité pour l'Afrique du Sud'' ("Truth for South Africa"), in which they endorsed
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. The following year, he co-wrote with D'Orcival another essay, ''Rhodésie, pays des lions fidèles'' ("Rhodesia, country of the faithful lions"), in defence of
Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
, a breakaway country in southern Africa ruled at that time by a white-minority government. The then prime minister of the
unrecognized state A number of polities have declared independence and sought diplomatic recognition from the international community as sovereign states, but have not been universally recognised as such. These entities often have ''de facto'' control of their ...
,
Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...
, prefaced the book. Returning from a trip to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1965, de Benoist deplored the suppression of
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
and wrote as a prediction that the system would survive outside the law, thus in a more violent way. In two essays published in 1966, ''Les Indo-Européens'' ("The Indo-Europeans") and ''Qu'est-ce que le nationalisme?'' ("What is nationalism?"), de Benoist contributed to define a new form of
European nationalism European nationalism (sometimes called pan-European nationalism) is a form of nationalism based on a pan-European identity. It is considered minor since the National Party of Europe disintegrated in the 1970s. History The former British Union o ...
in which the European civilization — to be understood as the "white race"De Benoist 1966, pp. 8–9: "Race is the only real unit encompassing individual variations. The objective study of history shows that only the European race (white race, caucasian) has continued to progress since its appearance on the rising path of the evolution of the living, unlike races stagnant in their development, therefore in virtual regression ..The European race does not have absolute superiority. It is only the most capable of progressing in the direction of evolution ..Racial factors being statistically hereditary, each race has its own psychology. All psychology generates value." (''Qu'est-ce que le nationalisme?'') — would be considered above its constituting ethnic groups, all united within a common empire and civilization superseding the nation states. This agenda was adopted by the
European Rally for Liberty The European Rally for Liberty (French: Rassemblement Européen pour la Liberté, REL), also translated as European Assembly for Liberty, was a far-right, white nationalist and euro-nationalist party active in France between 1966 and 1968, and t ...
(REL) during the 1967 legislative election (de Benoist was a member of the REL national council), and later became a core idea of GRECE since its foundation in 1968. The successive failures of the far-right movements de Benoist had supported since the early 1960s — from the dissolution of OAS and the
Évian Accords The Évian Accords were a set of peace treaties signed on 18 March 1962 in Évian-les-Bains, France, by France and the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic, the government-in-exile of FLN (), which sought Algeria's independence ...
of 1962, to the electoral defeat of presidential candidate
Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour (12 October 1907 – 29 September 1989) was a French lawyer and far-right politician. Elected to the National Assembly in 1936, he initially collaborated with the Vichy regime before leaving for Tunisia in 1941. After ...
in 1965 (in which he had participated via the
grassroots movement A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
"T.V. Committees"), to the debacle of the REL in the March 1967 election, — led de Benoist to question his political involvement. In the fall of 1967, he decided to make a "permanent and complete break with political action" and to focus on a meta-political strategy by launching a review. During the
May 1968 events Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which h ...
, then aged 25, de Benoist worked as a journalist for the
professional magazine A professional magazine or professional journal is a periodical published by the governing body of a profession."Professional Magazines or Journals" iProfessional/Trade Journals Piedmont College, Library. The standard of quality of such a periodical ...
''L'Écho de la presse et de la publicité''.


Nouvelle Droite and media fame (1968–1993)

The Groupement de Recherche et d'Études pour la Civilisation Européenne (GRECE) was founded in January 1968 in order to serve as a meta-political,
ethnonationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...
think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental org ...
promoting the ideas of the
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
. Although the organization was established with former militants of the REL and FEN, de Benoist has been described by scholars as its leader and "most authoritative spokesman". In the 1970s, de Benoist adapted his geopolitical view-points and went from a pro-colonial attitude towards an advocacy of
Third-Worldism Third-Worldism is a political concept and ideology that emerged in the late 1940s or early 1950s during the Cold War and tried to generate unity among the nations that did not want to take sides between the United States and the Soviet Union. The ...
against capitalist America and communist Russia, from the defence of the "last outposts of the West" towards
anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...
, and from a biological to a cultural approach of the notion of
alterity Alterity is a philosophical and anthropological term meaning "otherness", that is, the "other of two" (Latin ''alter''). It is also increasingly being used in media to express something other than "sameness", or something outside of tradition or co ...
, an idea which he developed in his ethnopluralist theories. De Benoist's works, along with others published by the think tank, began to attract public attention in the late 1970s, when the media coined the term "
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
" to label the movement. He started to write articles for mainstream right-wing magazines, namely '' Valeurs Actuelles'' and ''
Le Spectacle du Monde ''Le Spectacle du Monde'' is a French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, th ...
'' from 1970 to 1982, and ''Le Figaro Dimanche'' (renamed in 1978 ''
Le Figaro Magazine ''Le Figaro Magazine'' is a French language weekly news magazine published in Paris, France. The magazine is the weekly supplement of the daily newspaper ''Le Figaro''. History and profile The magazine is the first supplement of ''Le Figaro'' n ...
'') from 1977 to 1982 – he then wrote for the 'videos' section of the ''Figaro Magazine'' until 1992. De Benoist was awarded in 1978 the prestigious
Prix de l'essai The Prix de l'essai is an annual French essay prize awarded by the Académie française. It was created in 1971 by the Fondation Broquette-Gonin. It is awarded for an individual essay or for the collected works of an essayist. The prize sum was 100 ...
by the
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
for his book ''View for the Right'' (''Vu de droite: Anthologie critique des idées contemporaines''). Between 1980 and 1992, he was a regular participant in the radio program ''Panorama'' on
France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" sta ...
. Although de Benoist had announced his retirement from political parties and elections to focus on meta-politics in 1968, he ran as a candidate for the far-right
Party of New Forces Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN) or Party of New Forces was a French far-right political party formed in November 1974 from the ''Comité faire front'', a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front (FN). De ...
during the 1979 European elections. In the 1984 election to the European Parliament, de Benoist announced his intention to vote for the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...
, and justified his choice by describing the party as the most credible anti-capitalist, anti-liberal, and anti-American political force then active in France. De Benoist met Russian writer Alexandr Dugin in 1989 and the two of them soon became close collaborators. De Benoist was invited in Moscow by Dugin in 1992, and Dugin presented himself as the Moscow correspondent of GRECE for a time. The two authors eventually broke off their relationship in 1993 after a virulent campaign in French and German media against the " red and brown threat" in Russia. Whereas de Benoist acknowledged ideological differences with Dugin, especially on
Eurasianism Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, ...
and
Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
, they have maintained regular exchanges since then.


Intellectual re-emergence (1994–present)

In 1979 and 1993, two press campaigns launched in French liberal media against de Benoist damaged his public reputation and influence in France by claiming that he was in reality a "closet Fascist" or a "Nazi". The journalists accused de Benoist of hiding his racist and anti-egalitarian beliefs in a seemingly acceptable public agenda, replacing the doomed hierarchy of races with the less suspicious concept of "
ethno-pluralism Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism, also known as ethno-differentialism, is a political concept which relies on preserving and mutually respecting separate and bordered ethno-cultural regions. Among the key components are the "right to difference" ( ...
". Although he still frequently comments on politics, de Benoist chose in the early 1990s to focus on his intellectual activity and to avoid media attention. Since the 2000s onward, however, public interest for his works have re-emerged. His writings have been published in several far-right academic journals such as the ''
Journal of Historical Review The ''Journal of Historical Review'' was a non-peer reviewed, pseudoacademic periodical focused on advancing Holocaust denial. It was published by the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), based in Torrance, California. It ran quarterly from 19 ...
,'' ''
Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...
'', the '' Occidental Quarterly'', '' Tyr,'' or the
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...
''Telos''. De Benoist was one of the signatories of the 2002 '' Manifesto Against the Death of the Spirit and the Earth'', reportedly because "it seemed to imthat it reacts against the practical materialism that is part of a dominant ideology, an ideology for which there is nothing beyond material concerns".In a 2002, in a republication of his book ''View from the Right'', de Benoist reiterated what he wrote in 1977: the "greatest" danger in the world at that time was the "progressive disappearance of diversity from the world," including biodiversity of animals, cultures and peoples. De Benoist is now the editor of two magazines: the yearly ''
Nouvelle École ''Nouvelle École'' (French: ''New School'') is an annual political and philosophy magazine which was established by an ethno-nationalist think tank, GRECE. The publication is one of the significant media outlets of the New Right political appr ...
'' (since 1968) and the quarterly ''Krisis'' (since 1988). Although the extent of the relationship is debated by scholars, de Benoist and the
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
are generally viewed as influential on the ideological and political structure of the
Identitarian Movement The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a pan-European nationalism, nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of Ethnic groups in Europe, European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories c ...
. Part of the
alt-right The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
has also claimed to have been inspired by de Benoist's writings.


Views

In his early writings, de Benoist was close to pro-colonial movements and followed an ethno-biological approach of social science, endorsing
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
as the "last outpost of the West" at a time of "decolonization and international negrification". From the 1970s onward, he has gradually moved towards the defence of the Third-World against
American imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...
, and has adopted a cultural definition of "difference", theorized in his concept of
ethnopluralism Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism, also known as ethno-differentialism, is a political concept which relies on preserving and mutually respecting separate and bordered ethno-cultural regions. Among the key components are the "right to difference" ( ...
. Scholars have questioned whether this evolution should be regarded as a sincere ideological detachment from a far-right activist youth, or rather as a meta-political strategy set up to disguise non-egalitarian ideas behind more acceptable concepts. De Benoist is also an ardent critic of
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
, unrestricted
mass immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
,
liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, postmodern society, and what he calls the "ideology of sameness". Political scientist
Jean-Yves Camus Jean-Yves Camus (born 1958) is a French political scientist who specializes on nationalist movements in Europe. Life and career Born in 1958 to a Catholic and Gaullist family, Camus is an observant Jew and describes himself as part of "the an ...
describes the key idea of de Benoist in those terms: "through the use of meta-politics, to think the ways and means that are necessary in order for European civilization, based on the cultural values shared on the continent until the advent of globalization, to thrive and be perpetuated." Although de Benoist embodies the core values of GRECE and the Nouvelle Droite, his works are not always identical to those of other thinkers of the movements. He is opposed in particular to political violence, and he has declared that he had been building "a school of thought, not a political movement." In 2000, he disavowed
Guillaume Faye Guillaume Faye (; 7 November 1949 – 6 March 2019) was a French journalist, writer, and leading member of the French New Right. Earlier in his career, anti-Zionism permeated his work; later on, criticism of Islam became prominent in his writin ...
's "strongly racist" ideas regarding Muslims after the publication of ''The Colonization of Europe: Speaking Truth about Immigration and Islam''.


Identity

In 2006, de Benoist defined "identity" as a "dialogical" phenomenon, inspired by
Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism c ...
's
philosophy of dialogue Philosophy of dialogue is a type of philosophy based on the work of the Austrian-born Jewish philosopher Martin Buber best known through its classic presentation in his 1923 book '' I and Thou''. For Buber, the fundamental fact of human existence, t ...
and '' Ich und Du'' concept. According to him, one's identity is made of two components: the "objective part" coming from one's background (ethnicity, religion, family, nationality), and the "subjective part" freely chosen by the individual. Identity is therefore a perpetual evolution rather than a definitive notion. In 1992, de Benoist dismissed the
Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: ...
's use of ethnopluralism on the grounds that it portrayed "difference as an absolute, whereas, by definition, it exists only relationally." In 1966 however, he had written: "Race is the only real unit encompassing individual variations. The objective study of history shows that only the European race (white race, caucasian) has continued to progress since its appearance on the rising path of the evolution of the living, unlike races stagnant in their development, therefore in virtual regression." If scholars like
Pierre-André Taguieff Pierre-André Taguieff (born 4 August 1946) is a French philosopher who has specialised in the study of racism and antisemitism. He is the director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in an Institut d'Etudes Politique ...
have characterized the
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
as a form of "mixophobia" due to its focus on the notion of "difference", de Benoist has also criticized what he calls "the pathology of identity", that is to say the political use of identity by the populist Right in order to push an "us versus them" debate escorted by " ystematicand rrationalhating". The difficulty of understanding de Benoist’s views on identity rests upon the fact that his writings have experienced multiple re-synthesis since the 1960s. In 1974, he said: "there is no superior race. All races are superior and each of them has its own genius". However, in 1966 he had written: "The European race does not have absolute superiority. It is only the most capable of progressing in the direction of evolution ..Racial factors being statistically hereditary, each race has its own psychology. All psychology generates value." De Benoist has been influenced by
Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (; 11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, political theorist, and prominent member of the Nazi Party. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. A conservative theorist, he is noted as a ...
's distinction between friend and enemy as the core issue of politics. However, he sees immigrants as eventually victims of
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
and has argued that immigration was first of all a consequence of multinational companies being greedy for profits and preferring to import cheap labor.


Ethnopluralism

De Benoist rejects the
nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
and
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
on the grounds that both liberalism and nationalism eventually derive from the same
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
of
subjectivity Subjectivity in a philosophical context has to do with a lack of objective reality. Subjectivity has been given various and ambiguous definitions by differing sources as it is not often the focal point of philosophical discourse.Bykova, Marina F ...
, and that the centralized and "
Jacobin , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...
" state
French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
had destroyed regional identities in the project of "one and indivisible" France. He stands instead for the political autonomy of each and every group, favouring an integral federalism built on the principle of
subsidiarity Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...
that would transcend the nation state and give way for both regional and Europe identities to thrive. De Benoist believes that knowledge of ethnic and religious traditions is a duty which must be passed on to following generations, and he has been critical of the idea of a moral imperative to
cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...
.


Liberalism

De Benoist is a critic of the primacy of
individual rights Group rights, also known as collective rights, are rights held by a group ''wikt:qua, qua'' a group rather than individually by its members; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by Individuality, individual people; even if they are grou ...
, an ideology that he sees embodied in
humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
, the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, and the
Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...
. While not a communist, de Benoist has been influenced by the
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
analysis of the nature of capitalism and conflicting class interests developed by
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
in ''Das Kapital''. As a result, another of his core ideas is that the world is facing the "hegemony of capital" and the "pursuit of self-interest", two typical trends of the postmodern era. According to
Jean-Yves Camus Jean-Yves Camus (born 1958) is a French political scientist who specializes on nationalist movements in Europe. Life and career Born in 1958 to a Catholic and Gaullist family, Camus is an observant Jew and describes himself as part of "the an ...
, if de Benoist can share anti-capitalist analysis with leftists, the nature of his goal is indeed different since de Benoist considers the unlimited expansion of the free market and
consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...
as key contributors to the erasure of peoples' identities. Furthermore, de Benoist acknowledges the existence of the "
working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
" and the "
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
" but does not make an essential distinction between the two of them. He rather divides society between the "new dominant class" and the "people". In 1991, the editorial staff of his magazine ''Eléments'' described the danger of adopting a "systematic anti-egalitarianism hat couldlead to
social Darwinism Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in We ...
, which might justify
free-market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers are ...
". De Benoist is opposed to the American modern liberal idea of a
melting pot The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous throug ...
. A critic of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, he has been quoted as saying: "Some people do not accept the thought of one day having to wear the Red Army cap. In fact, it is a terrible prospect. However, this is not a reason to tolerate the idea of one day having to spend what we have left to live on by eating hamburgers in Brooklyn." In 1991, he described European supporters of the first
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
as "collaborators of the American order."


Monotheism

De Benoist has supported ties with
Islamic culture Islamic culture and Muslim culture refer to cultural practices which are common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to the early Umayyad period and the early Abbasid period, were predomi ...
in the 1980s, on the grounds that the relationship would be distinct from what he saw as the consumerism and materialism of the American society and from the bureaucracy and repression of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
alike. He also opposes
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
as inherently intolerant, theocratic and bent on persecution.


Influences

De Benoist's influences include:
Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...
,
Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...
,
Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism c ...
,
Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as w ...
,
Georges Dumézil Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil (4 March 189811 October 1986) was a French philologist, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and mythology. He was a professor at Istanbul University, École pratique d ...
,
Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote influe ...
,
José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...
,
Vilfredo Pareto Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto ( , , , ; born Wilfried Fritz Pareto; 15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923) was an Italian polymath (civil engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher). He made several important contribut ...
,
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
,
Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationis ...
,
Arnold Gehlen Arnold Gehlen (29 January 1904 in Leipzig, German Empire – 30 January 1976 in Hamburg, West Germany) was an influential conservative German philosopher, sociologist, and anthropologist. Biography Gehlen's major influences while studyin ...
, Stéphane Lupasco,
Helmut Schelsky Helmut Schelsky (14 October 1912 – 24 February 1984), was a German sociologist, the most influential in post-World War II Germany, well into the 1970s. Biography Schelsky was born in Chemnitz, Saxony. He turned to social philosophy and even ...
,
Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...
, the
Conservative Revolution The Conservative Revolution (german: Konservative Revolution), also known as the German neoconservative movement or new nationalism, was a German national-conservative movement prominent during the Weimar Republic, in the years 1918–1933 (betw ...
aries – including
Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (; 11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, political theorist, and prominent member of the Nazi Party. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. A conservative theorist, he is noted as a ...
and
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (; 29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German historian and philosopher of history whose interests included mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best known ...
–, the
non-conformists of the 1930s The non-conformists of the 1930s were groups and individuals during the inter-war period in France that were seeking new solutions to face the political, economical and social crisis. The name was coined in 1969 by the historian Jean-Louis Loubet ...
,
Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( , ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. Biography Born in Mohrun ...
,
Johannes Althusius Johannes Althusius (1563 – August 12, 1638). was a German jurist and Calvinist political philosopher. He is best known for his 1603 work, ''"Politica Methodice Digesta, Atque Exemplis Sacris et Profanis Illustrata"''. revised editions were publi ...
, interwar Austro-Marxists, and communitarian philosophers such as
Alasdair MacIntyre Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (; born 12 January 1929) is a Scottish-American philosopher who has contributed to moral and political philosophy as well as history of philosophy and theology. MacIntyre's '' After Virtue'' (1981) is one of the most ...
and Charles Taylor.


Critics

Critics of de Benoist like Thomas Sheehan (academic), Thomas Sheehan argue he has developed a novel restatement of fascism. Roger Griffin, using an ideal type definition of fascism which includes "populist ultra-nationalism" and "palingenesis" (heroic rebirth), argues that the
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
draws on such fascist ideologues as Armin Mohler in a way that allows Nouvelle Droite ideologues such as de Benoist to claim a "metapolitical" stance, but which nonetheless has residual fascist ideological elements. De Benoist's critics also claim his views recall Nazism, Nazi attempts to replace German Christianity with its own paganism. They note that de Benoist's rejection of the French Revolution's legacy and the allegedly "abstract" Rights of Man ties him to the same Counter-Enlightenment right-wing tradition as counter-revolutionary Legitimists, fascists, Vichy France, Vichyites and integral nationalists.


Private life

A Modern Paganism, neo-pagan, de Benoist married Doris Christians, a German citizen, on 21 June 1972. They have two children. He is a member of the high IQ society Mensa International, Mensa, whose former president of the French branch was a member of the patronage committee of ''
Nouvelle École ''Nouvelle École'' (French: ''New School'') is an annual political and philosophy magazine which was established by an ethno-nationalist think tank, GRECE. The publication is one of the significant media outlets of the New Right political appr ...
''. De Benoist owns the largest private library in France, with an estimate of 150,000 to 250,000 books.


Selected works

* ''Salan devant l'opinion'' (under the pen name of Fabrice Laroche) (Saint-Just, 1963). * ''Le courage est leur patrie'' (under the pen name of Fabrice Laroche, with
François d'Orcival Amaury de Chaunac-Lanzac (born 11 February 1942), better known as François d'Orcival, is a French conservative journalist and essayist. He is the president of the editorial committee at '' Valeurs Actuelles'' and sits on the board of directors of ...
) (Saint-Just, 1965). * ''Vérité pour l'Afrique du Sud'' (under the pen name of Fabrice Laroche, with Gilles Fournier) (Saint-Just, 1965). * ''Les Indo-Européens'' (G.E.D., 1966). * '' Rhodésie, pays des lions fidèles'' (with François d'Orcival) (Table Ronde, 1966). * ''Avec ou sans Dieu : l'avenir des valeurs chrétiennes'' (with Jean-Luc Marion) (Beauchesne, 1970). * ''L'Empirisme logique et la Philosophie du Cercle de Vienne'' (''Nouvelle École'', 1970). * ''Friedrich Nietzsche, Nietzsche: Morale et « Grande Politique »'' (GRECE, 1973). * ''
Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch. He is often regarded ...
et l'Éthologie moderne'' (''Nouvelle École'', 1975). * ''Vu de droite. Anthologie critique des idées contemporaines'' (Copernic, 1977). (Prix de l'essai, grand prix de l'essai de l'Académie française 1978) * ''Les Bretons'' (Les Cahiers de ''la Bretagne réelle'', n°396 ''bis'', 1978). * ''Les Idées à l'endroit'' (Libres-Hallier, 1978). * ''Le Guide pratique des prénoms'' (under the pen name of Robert de Herte, with Alain de Benoist), coll. « Hors-série d'"Enfants-Magazine" » (Publications Groupe Média, 1979). * ''Comment peut-on être païen ?'' (Albin Michel, 1981). * ''Les Traditions d'Europe'' (Paris: Labyrinthe, 1982). * ''Orientations pour des années décisives'' (Labyrinthe, 1982). * ''Fêter Noël. Légendes et Traditions'' (Atlas-Edena, 1982). * ''Démocratie : le problème'' (Labyrinthe, 1985) * (in collaboration with Andre Béjin & Julien Freund) ''Racismes, Antiracismes'' (Paris: Librairie des Méridiens, 1986) * (with Thomas Molnar) ''L'éclipse du sacré: discours et résponses'' (Paris: Table ronde, 1986) * ''Europe, Tiers monde, même combat'' (Éditions Robert Laffont, Robert Laffont, 1986). * ''Le Grain de sable. Jalons pour une fin de siècle'' (Labyrinthe, 1994). * ''Nationalisme : Phénoménologie et Critique'' (GRECE, 1994). * ''Démocratie représentative et Démocratie participative'' (GRECE, 1994). * ''Nietzsche et la Révolution conservatrice'' (GRECE, 1994). * ''L'Empire intérieur'' (Fata Morgana, 1995). * ''La Ligne de mire. Discours aux citoyens européens, t. 1 : 1972–1987'' (Labyrinthe, 1995). * ''Famille et Société. Origine, Histoire, Actualité'' (Labyrinthe, 1996). * ''La Ligne de mire. Discours aux citoyens européens, t. 2 : 1988–1995'' (Labyrinthe, 1996). * ''Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Céline et l'Allemagne, 1933–1945. Une mise au point'' (Le Bulletin célinien, 1996). * ''Horizon 2000. Trois entretiens avec Alain de Benoist'' (GRECE, 1996). * ''La Légende de Clovis I, Clovis'' (Cercle Ernest Renan, 1996). * ''Indo-Européens : à la recherche du foyer d'origine'' (''Nouvelle École'', 1997). * ''
Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...
. Une bio-bibliographie'' (Guy Trédaniel, 1997). * ''Communisme et Nazisme. 25 réflexions sur le totalitarisme au XXe siècle'' (Labyrinthe, 1998). * ''L'Écume et les Galets. 1991–1999 : dix ans d'actualité vue d'ailleurs'' (Labyrinthe, 2000). * ''Jésus sous l'œil critique des historiens'' (Cercle Ernest Renan, 2000). * ''Bibliographie d'Henri Béraud'' (Association rétaise des Amis d'Henri Béraud, 2000). * ''Dernière Année. Notes pour conclure le siècle'' (L'Âge d'Homme, 2001). * ''Jésus et ses Frères'' (Cercle Ernest Renan, 2001). * ''Louis Rougier. Sa vie, son œuvre'' (Cercle Ernest Renan, 2002). * ''Charles Maurras et l'Action française. Une bibliographie'', BCM, 2002 * ''Qu'est-ce qu'un militant ?'' (sous le pseudonyme de Fabrice Laroche, réédition d'un article paru en 1963) (Ars Magna, 2003). * ''Critiques-Théoriques'' (L'Âge d'Homme, 2003). * ''Au-delà des droits de l'homme. Pour défendre les libertés'' (éditions Krisis, 2004). * ''Bibliographie générale des droites françaises. 1, Arthur de Gobineau,
Gustave Le Bon Charles-Marie Gustave Le Bon (; 7 May 1841 – 13 December 1931) was a leading French polymath whose areas of interest included anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, invention, and physics. He is best known for his 1895 work '' The Crow ...
, Édouard Drumont, Maurice Barrès, Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, Henry de Montherlant, Thierry Maulnier, Julien Freund'' (Éditions Dualpha, coll. « Patrimoine des lettres », Coulommiers, 2004), 609 p. * ''Bibliographie générale des droites françaises. 2, Georges Sorel, Charles Maurras, Georges Valois, Abel Bonnard, Henri Béraud,
Louis Rougier Louis Auguste Paul Rougier (; 10 April 1889 – 14 October 1982) was a French philosopher. Rougier made many important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science, political philosophy and the history of Christianity. Early life Rougie ...
, Lucien Rebatet, Robert Brasillach'' (Éditions Dualpha, coll. « Patrimoine des lettres », Coulommiers, 2004), 472 p. * ''Bibliographie générale des droites françaises. 3, Louis de Bonald, Alexis de Tocqueville, Georges Vacher de Lapouge, Léon Daudet, Jacques Bainville, René Benjamin, Henri Massis, Georges Bernanos,
Maurice Bardèche Maurice Bardèche (1 October 1907 – 30 July 1998) was a French art critic and journalist, better known as one of the leading exponents of neo-fascism in post–World War II Europe. Bardèche was also the brother-in-law of the collaborationist ...
, Jean Cau (writer), Jean Cau'' (Éditions Dualpha, coll. « Patrimoine des lettres », Coulommiers, 2005), 648 p. * ''Bibliographie générale des droites françaises. 4, Joseph de Maistre,
Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote influe ...
, :fr:Jules Soury, Jules Soury, Charles Péguy, Alphonse de Chateaubriant, Jacques Benoist-Méchin, Gustave Thibon, Saint-Loup (Marc Augier), Louis Pauwels'' (Éditions Dualpha, coll. « Patrimoine des lettres », Coulommiers, 2005), 736 p. * ''Jésus et ses Frères, et autres écrits sur le christianisme, le paganisme et la religion'' (éditions Les Amis d'Alain de Benoist, 2006). * ''C'est-à-dire. Entretiens-Témoignages-Explications'' (2 volumes) (éditions Les Amis d'Alain de Benoist, 2006). * ''Nous et les autres. Problématique de l'identité'' (éditions Krisis, 2006). * ''
Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (; 11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, political theorist, and prominent member of the Nazi Party. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. A conservative theorist, he is noted as a ...
actuel'' (éditions Krisis, 2007). * ''Demain, la décroissance ! Penser l'écologie jusqu'au bout'' (Edite, 2007). * ''Dictionnaire des prénoms : d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, d'ici et d'ailleurs'' (Jean Picollec, 2009). * ''Mémoire vive / Entretiens avec François Bousquet'' (Éditions de Fallois, Collection « Littérature », 2 mai 2012). * ''Edouard Berth ou le socialisme héroïque. Sorel, Maurras, Lenine'' (Pardès, 2013). * ''Les Démons du Bien, Du nouvel ordre moral à l'idéologie du genre'' (Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2013). * ''Quatre figures de la Révolution Conservatrice allemande - Werner Sombart -Arthur Moeller van den Bruck -Ernst Niekisch - Oswald Spengler'' (Éditions Les Amis d'Alain de Benoist, 2014). * ''Le traité transatlantique et autres menaces'' (Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2015). * ''Au-delà des droits de l'Homme. Pour défendre les libertés'' (Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2016). * ''Droite-gauche, c'est fini ! : Le moment populiste'' (Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2017). * ''Ce que penser veut dire. Penser avec Goethe, Heidegger, Rousseau, Schmitt, Péguy, Arendt…'' (Éditions du Rocher, 2017). * ''Contre le libéralisme'' (Le Rocher, 2019). * ''Ernst Jünger : entre les dieux et les titans'' (Via Romana, 2020). * ''La Puissance et la Foi : essais de théologie politique'' (Pierre-Guillaume de Roux, 2021).


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *''Fascism (book), Fascism'', edited by Roger Griffin (1995), pp. 346–348. *''The Beast Reawakens'' by Martin A. Lee (1997), pp. 208–213. * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benoist, Alain de 1943 births Living people Alt-right writers Writers from Tours, France French political philosophers New Right (Europe) Geopoliticians French political writers French modern pagans Identitarian movement in France 20th-century French philosophers 21st-century French philosophers French male essayists 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists Critics of Christianity Anti-consumerists Degrowth advocates 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers Modern pagan philosophers Pan-European nationalism Modern paganism in France French nationalists Member of the Mont Pelerin Society