Abstract
This chapter analyses post-modern conservatism in practice. It opens and concludes with some highly general considerations. In between are concrete examinations of post-modern conservatism in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, and Italy. There are also some ruminations on where else post-modern conservatism might be emerging, such as Brazil. The chapter concludes that it would be mistaken to conclude that this movement is simply a contingent development which will quickly vanish, as it has won major political victories in the past several years.
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- 1.
In October of 2018, Brazil also turned towards a hybrid form of conservatism, partly post-modern, partly pure reactionary despotism, by electing the eccentric and vulgar Jair Bolsonaro as President. Bolsonaro campaigned against the left-wing Workers Party which was then mired in a corruption scandal, promising to bring integrity back to Brazil by curbing gay rights, stemming liberalisation, and turning the clock back to the country’s days as a military dictatorship. He won a major victory, inspiring many to claim that the populist uprising had come to Latin America.
- 2.
See Frank S. Meyer. In Defense of Freedom and Related Essays. With a Foreword by William C. Dennis (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1996).
- 3.
See Alasdair Macintyre. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre-Dame Press, 1981) and Patrick Deneen. Why Liberalism Failed (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018).
- 4.
Michael Ignatieff. Empire Lite: Nation Building in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan (London, UK: Penguin Books, 2003).
- 5.
My friend and collaborator David Hollands has written on the cinematic aesthetics of post-modern conservative by referencing the films of D´Souza. See his essay in Matthew McManus. What Is Post-modern Conservatism: Essays on Our Hugely Tremendous Times (Winchester, UK: Zero Books, 2019).
- 6.
Leslie Kaufman. “Breitbart News Network Plans Global Expansion.” New York Times, February 16, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/business/media/breitbart-news-network-plans-global-expansion.html?smid=pl-share.
- 7.
PBS News. “Watch Donald Trump Announce His Candidacy for US President.” PBS News Hour, June 1, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpMJx0-HyOM.
- 8.
A good example of such a figure would be David Frum, who was a substantial presence in the Bush regime. See David Frum. “The President Is a Crook.” The Atlantic, August 22, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/the-president-is-a-crook/568123/.
- 9.
Harry G. Frankfurt. On Bullshit (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005).
- 10.
John Bolton. “Is There Really ‘Law’ in International Affairs?” Transnational and Contemporary Problems, No. 1, 2000 at pg 37.
- 11.
Conservative Home. “Boris Johnson’s Speech on the EU Referendum.” Conservative Home, the Home of Conservatism, May 9, 2016. https://www.conservativehome.com/parliament/2016/05/boris-johnsons-speech-on-the-eu-referendum-full-text.html.
- 12.
Roger Scruton. How to Be a Conservative (London, UK: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2014).
- 13.
Uday Mehta. Liberalism and Empire: A Study in Nineteenth Century British Liberal Thought (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
- 14.
Kevin O’Rourke. A Short History of Brexit from Brentry to Backstop (London, UK: Pelican Books, 2019) pgs 24–25.
- 15.
I will discuss some variants of internationalism supported by post-modern conservatives later.
- 16.
See Jürgen Habermas. The Crisis of the European Union: A Response, trans. Ciaran Cronin (Cambridge, MA: Polity, 2012) and Jürgen Habermas. The Divided West, trans. Ciaran Cronin (London, UK: Polity Press, 2006).
- 17.
Satnam Virdee and Brendan McGeever. “Racism, Crisis, Brexit.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 41, 2018 at pg 1805.
- 18.
Nigel Farage. “Brexit: Why Britain Left the European Union.” PragerU, March 12, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLp7LtXmy68&t=2s.
- 19.
Nigel Farage. “Brexit: Why Britain Left the European Union.” PragerU, March 12, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLp7LtXmy68&t=2s.
- 20.
RT. “You Are Not Laughing Now Are You? Nigel Farage at European Parliament FULL SPEECH.” RT News, June 28, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJzRa7HWVqs&fbclid=IwAR2BSFuDaLcVXjMwPyaImEGe_LjH8x9LynhB0Br5MmLlBIpIlf11dnqGgSs.
- 21.
Kevin O’Rourke. A Short History of Brexit from Brentry to Backstop (London, UK: Pelican Books, 2019).
- 22.
Anna Gwiazda. “Party Patronage in Poland: The Democratic Left Alliance and Law and Justice Compared.” Paper Prepared for ECPR Conference 2006.
- 23.
Politico. “Is Poland a Failing Democracy?” Politico, January 13, 2016. https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-democracy-failing-pis-law-and-justice-media-rule-of-law/.
- 24.
Politico. “Is Poland a Failing Democracy?” Politico, January 13, 2016. https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-democracy-failing-pis-law-and-justice-media-rule-of-law/.
- 25.
Mateusz Mazzini. “Poland’s Historical Revisionism Is Pushing It into Moscow’s Arms.” Foreign Policy, February 12, 2019. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/12/polands-historical-revisionism-is-pushing-it-into-moscows-arms-smolensk-kaczynski-pis-law-justice-holocaust-law/.
- 26.
Government of Poland. “The Results of the Nation Census on Population and Housing 2011.” Government of Poland, March 2012. “https://web.archive.org/web/20130116214520/http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_lu_nps2011_wyniki_nsp2011_22032012.pdf.
- 27.
Remi Adekoya. “Why Poland’s Law and Justice Party Remains So Popular.” Foreign Affairs, November 3, 2017. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/central-europe/2017-11-03/why-polands-law-and-justice-party-remains-so-popular.
- 28.
Human Rights Watch. “Poland: Official Homophobia Threatens Basic Freedoms.” Human Rights Watch, June 4, 2006. https://www.hrw.org/news/2006/06/04/poland-official-homophobia-threatens-basic-freedoms-0.
- 29.
Paul Lendval. Orban: Europe’s New Strongman (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017) pgs 11–17.
- 30.
Paul Lendval. Orban: Europe’s New Strongman (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017) pgs 11–17.
- 31.
Paul Lendval. Orban: Europe’s New Strongman (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017) pgs 90–96.
- 32.
Paul Lendval. Orban: Europe’s New Strongman (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017) pgs 100–110.
- 33.
Cas Mudde. “The 2014 Hungarian Parliamentary Elections, or How to Craft a Constitutional Majority.” Washington Post, April 14, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/14/the-2014-hungarian-parliamentary-elections-or-how-to-craft-a-constitutional-majority/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4c754e63491e.
- 34.
Website of the Hungarian Government. “Speech of Victor Orban at EPP Congress.” Hungarian Government, October 26, 2015. http://www.kormany.hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-speeches/speech-of-viktor-orban-at-the-epp-congress20151024.
- 35.
Paul Lendval. Orban: Europe’s New Strongman (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017) pgs 190–197.
- 36.
Marc Santora. “George Soros Funded University Is Forced Out of Hungary.” New York Times, December 3, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/world/europe/soros-hungary-central-european-university.html.
- 37.
Alexandra Bessi. “Orban: Time to Take Hungarian-Brazillian Ties to the Next Level.” Daily News Hungary, November 20, 2018. https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-time-to-take-hungarian-brazilian-ties-to-next-level/.
- 38.
Pablo Gorondi. “Hungary’s Orban Wants Anti Migration Forces to Control the EU.” AP News, January 10, 2019. https://www.apnews.com/3e0d443c759f494e9c2249d9041a4d75.
- 39.
Slavoj Zizek. “Berlusconi in Tehran.” London Review of Books, July 2009.
- 40.
Bepe Grillo. “Grillo Calls for Mass Deportations.” Ansa En Politics, December 23, 2016. http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2016/12/23/grillo-calls-for-mass-deportations-2_c2583737-0f97-4157-a2f3-d2a9137728b6.html.
- 41.
Valentina Za. “Italian Prosecutors Widen Investigation to Include MSF Over Migrant Rescue.” Reuters, August 5, 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-migrants-medecins-sans-frontier-idUSKBN1AL0HZ?il=0.
- 42.
ANSA. “Tunisia ‘Stunned’ by Salvini on Exporting Convicts.” ANSA News, June 4, 2018. http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/06/04/tunisia-stunned-by-salvini-on-exporting-convicts-3_c4da5f18-e8c7-450a-aab8-49ff45b8a726.html.
- 43.
Elisabetta Povelodo and Gaia Pianigiani. “Italian Minister Moves to Count and Expel Roma, Drawing Outrage.” New York Times, June 19, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/world/europe/italy-roma-matteo-salvini.html.
- 44.
Angela Giuffrida. “Matteo Salvini Says Italy and Poland Could Build a New Europe.” The Guardian, January 9, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/09/matteo-salvini-says-italy-and-poland-could-build-new-europe.
- 45.
Thibault Larger. “Matteo Salvini: Italian Ports Closed to Migrants.” Politico, December 23, 2018. https://www.politico.eu/article/matteo-salvini-italian-ports-closed-to-migrants/.
- 46.
I address the more complex issue of Brazil’s flirtation with post-modern conservatism in a footnote below.
- 47.
BBC. “Italy Anti-immigration Rally Draws Thousands in Rome.” BBC News, February 25, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31674709.
- 48.
Etienne Balibar. Citizenship (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2015).
- 49.
Jürgen Habermas. The Divided West, trans. Ciaran Cronin (London, UK: Polity Press, 2006).
- 50.
Jipson John and Jitheesh P.M. “The Neoliberal Project Is Alive But Has Lost Its Legitimacy: David Harvey.” The Wire, February 9, 2019. https://thewire.in/economy/david-harvey-marxist-scholar-neo-liberalism?fbclid=IwAR39-HMdn0gkeo9-19cpnQ06x-_KqBsOW4kCwaXyAKOQixvbE7-1MpEgEK0.
- 51.
Michael Savage. “Millions of Families on Brink Face Deepest Cuts in Years.” The Guardian, March 10, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/10/poverty-benefits-families-cuts-austerity-hammond-poor-welfare.
- 52.
Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin. National Populism and the Revolt Against Liberal Democracy (London, UK: Penguin Books, 2018).
- 53.
In their book Eatwell and Goodwin try to make the case that right-wing populists, at least on the continent, are actually distinguished by their greater respect for direct democracy. They point to the emphasis placed on referenda and consultations with the people. I find this claim highly specious. It does not take very seriously the significant problems with these consultations, which as many international watchdogs and commentators have pointed out, are often hedged in favour of the ruling populist party. A good example would be the 2016 question on Migrant resettlement in Hungary, which Fidesz won with a stunning 98% of the vote, but with too few voters participating for the referendum to be considered binding. Commentators criticised everything from the manipulative way the referendum question was presented to the dishonest information propagated by Fidesz and the state media it increasingly controlled. See Leonid Bershidsky. “Hungary’s Manipulative Referendum.” Bloomberg, July 5, 2016. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-07-05/hungary-s-manipulative-referendum and Heather Grabbe. “The Long Reach of Orban’s Referendum Experiment.” Open Society, October 10, 2016. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/long-reach-of-orb-n-s-referendum-experiment/. Moreover, Orban later ignored the fact that turnout was too low for the referendum to be legally binding and advanced his policy anyway. See Lili Bayer. “Mission Accomplished for Victor Orban.” Politico, October 3, 2016. https://www.politico.eu/article/mission-accomplished-for-viktor-orban-hungary-referendum-europe-migration-crisis-refugees/.
- 54.
Trumpist subsidies for the agricultural industry being a good example.
- 55.
Marcin Goettig. “Polish Cut to Retirement Age Comes into Force, Bucking European Trend.” Reuters, October 1, 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-pension/polish-cut-in-retirement-age-comes-into-force-bucking-european-trend-idUSKCN1C60Z6.
- 56.
Oliver Moody. “Victor Orban Buys Off Protesters with Rise in Minimum Wage.” The Times UK, December 31, 2018. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/viktor-orban-buys-off-protesters-with-rise-in-minimumwage-vd9zv0zft.
- 57.
Ferdinando Giugliano. “Italy Starts Handing Out Free Money.” Bloomberg, January 28, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-28/italy-s-populists-hand-out-some-free-money.
- 58.
Of course, this also means that immigration and cultural pluralism must be avoided since that would water down the resources which can be allocated to the deserving group. This orientation was succinctly captured by the Swedish Democrats, whose recent electoral campaign presented welfare and immigration as competing objectives voters had to choose between.
- 59.
European Commission. “Spending by County.” European Commission, 2014–2017. https://ec.europa.eu/info/about-european-commission/eu-budget_en.
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McManus, M. (2020). Brexit, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Post-modern Conservatism Across the Globe. In: The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism. Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24682-2_5
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