Fascism's Modernist Revolution
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Reactionary Postmodernism? Neoliberalism, Multiculturalism, the Internet, and the Ideology of the New Far Right in Germany
University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM UVM Honors College Senior Theses Undergraduate Theses 2018 Reactionary Postmodernism? Neoliberalism, Multiculturalism, the Internet, and the Ideology of the New Far Right in Germany William Peter Fitz University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses Recommended Citation Fitz, William Peter, "Reactionary Postmodernism? Neoliberalism, Multiculturalism, the Internet, and the Ideology of the New Far Right in Germany" (2018). UVM Honors College Senior Theses. 275. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/275 This Honors College Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in UVM Honors College Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REACTIONARY POSTMODERNISM? NEOLIBERALISM, MULTICULTURALISM, THE INTERNET, AND THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NEW FAR RIGHT IN GERMANY A Thesis Presented by William Peter Fitz to The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts In European Studies with Honors December 2018 Defense Date: December 4th, 2018 Thesis Committee: Alan E. Steinweis, Ph.D., Advisor Susanna Schrafstetter, Ph.D., Chairperson Adriana Borra, M.A. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter One: Neoliberalism and Xenophobia 17 Chapter Two: Multiculturalism and Cultural Identity 52 Chapter Three: The Philosophy of the New Right 84 Chapter Four: The Internet and Meme Warfare 116 Conclusion 149 Bibliography 166 1 “Perhaps one will view the rise of the Alternative for Germany in the foreseeable future as inevitable, as a portent for major changes, one that is as necessary as it was predictable. -
178 Chapter 6 the Closing of the Kroll: Weimar
Chapter 6 The Closing of the Kroll: Weimar Culture and the Depression The last chapter discussed the Kroll Opera's success, particularly in the 1930-31 season, in fulfilling its mission as a Volksoper. While the opera was consolidating its aesthetic identity, a dire economic situation dictated the closing of opera houses and theaters all over Germany. The perennial question of whether Berlin could afford to maintain three opera houses on a regular basis was again in the air. The Kroll fell victim to the state's desire to save money. While the closing was not a logical choice, it did have economic grounds. This chapter will explore the circumstances of the opera's demise and challenge the myth that it was a victim of the political right. The last chapter pointed out that the response of right-wing critics to the Kroll was multifaceted. Accusations of "cultural Bolshevism" often alternated with serious appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of any given production. The right took issue with the Kroll's claim to represent the nation - hence, when the opera tackled works by Wagner and Beethoven, these efforts were more harshly criticized because they were perceived as irreverent. The scorn of the right for the Kroll's efforts was far less evident when it did not attempt to tackle works crucial to the German cultural heritage. Nonetheless, political opposition did exist, and it was sometimes expressed in extremely crude forms. The 1930 "Funeral Song of the Berlin Kroll Opera", printed in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, may serve as a case in point. -
The Impact of the New Right on the Reagan Administration
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THE IMPACT OF THE NEW RIGHT ON THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION: KIRKPATRICK & UNESCO AS. A TEST CASE BY Isaac Izy Kfir LONDON 1998 UMI Number: U148638 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U148638 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to investigate whether the Reagan administration was influenced by ‘New Right’ ideas. Foreign policy issues were chosen as test cases because the presidency has more power in this area which is why it could promote an aggressive stance toward the United Nations and encourage withdrawal from UNESCO with little impunity. Chapter 1 deals with American society after 1945. It shows how the ground was set for the rise of Reagan and the New Right as America moved from a strong affinity with New Deal liberalism to a new form of conservatism, which the New Right and Reagan epitomised. Chapter 2 analyses the New Right as a coalition of three distinctive groups: anti-liberals, New Christian Right, and neoconservatives. -
Section 6 Language Corrected SN(1)
The Socio-Cultural Conditions of the Avant-Gardes in Finland in the 1920s and 1930s Stefan Nygård Abstract As a geopolitically strategic and newly independent country recovering from the trauma of a civil war in 1918, the socio-cultural constraints on artistic freedom were considerable in Finland between the wars. Art and literature were to a varying extent connected to political projects on the left or the right. Leading critics played a key role in the negotiations between art, politics and ideology. Few artists or writers, however, adjusted uncritically to external ideological demands. Those that challenged the subordination of art to political agendas or the national imperative often relied on the accumulation of symbolic capital abroad. With its separation from Russia in the winter of 1917–1918, and a civil war that involved active participation from German and Russian troops, Finland was more directly affected by World War I than its Scandinavian neighbours. The climate of post-war cultural and intellectual debate was partly determined by the violent beginning of independence, in addition to the increasingly totalising claims of the state throughout Europe between the wars. At the time Finland was a semi-democratic country with relative freedom of expression. Socialist parties were only partially tolerated, and approximately 4,000 people were sentenced in the so-called communist trials between 1919 and 1944 (Björne 2007: 498–499). Besides the tension between east and west and “red” and “white”, linguistic struggles between Finnish and Swedish added to the disintegrating forces. In the context of a desperate search for national unity and political stability in what is sometimes called the “white republic”, there was limited tolerance for the kind of radical questioning of core values in liberal bourgeois society that was common among the early twentieth-century avant-gardes. -
George W. Bush: a Neo-Conservative? Written by Mike Spaan
George W. Bush: A Neo-Conservative? Written by Mike Spaan This PDF is auto-generated for reference only. As such, it may contain some conversion errors and/or missing information. For all formal use please refer to the official version on the website, as linked below. George W. Bush: A Neo-Conservative? https://www.e-ir.info/2015/05/25/george-w-bush-a-neo-conservative/ MIKE SPAAN, MAY 25 2015 What is Neo-Conservatism and how did this Influence American Foreign Policy during the Presidency of George W. Bush? The neo-conservative movement has been one of the most controversial in the modern post-Cold War era of International Relations (Leffler 2005 395; Williams 2005: 307). Its adherents are principally American intellectuals, writers and public servants. Despite this, much confusion still exists as to the nature of the movement and its ideas. The movement came about in the latter part of the 1960s, and garnered considerable influence since that time (Boot 2004: 21; Williams 2005: 309; Singh 2009: 34). This influence, however, remained on the fringes of policy-making until the administration of George W. Bush adopted some policies and strategies that could loosely be described as neo-conservative tenets. This paper has two distinct aims. First, to explore what neo-conservatism entails in the modern post-Cold War era and, secondly, to explore the degree to which neo-conservatives were able to influence the Bush administration. In doing so, this paper hopes to refute commonly held misconceptions about the movement and more importantly, the degree to which it was able to influence, or as some would assert, ‘hijack’ United States (US) foreign policy under President Bush (Austin 2005: 53). -
Portugal, Slovakia, and the Political Counter- Reformation of the Twentieth Century (1910- 1939)
23 ZuZana Poláčková – Pieter C. van Duin Portugal, Slovakia, and the political Counter- reformation of the twentieth century (1910- 1939) This essay tries to make a comparative analysis of the political dynamics of Portugal and Slovakia in the first half of the twentieth century (1910-1939) in terms of the significance of conservative political Catholicism. The two countries belonged to a group of nations in Europe in which there was a strong reaction to political liberalism, progressive republicanism, cultural secularism, and socialism. This an- tagonism can arguably be seen as a modern continuation of the historic conflict between the Protestant and humanist Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Its twentieth-century manifestation was of course somewhat different from the original sixteenth- and seventeenth-century conflict. After the eighteenth century the historic force of anti-Catholic Reformation was mainly expressed in the form of intellectual Enlightenment, anti-clericalism, and social and cultural progressivism. But it would seem that in many ways the dynamics and aggressive energy of this great cultural confrontation was continued during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although in a modified ideological and political shape. The years between 1910 and 1940 were the period when the conflict between political progressivism and Catholic conservatism reached its culmination. In Portugal the forces of cultural secularism and liberal republicanism were defeated by the new authoritarian regime led by Salazar. In Slovakia the foundation and then the end of the First Czechoslovak Republic brought the rise and then the victory of the Catho- lic opposition movement, the Slovak People’s Party of Andrej Hlinka and Jozef Tiso. -
Conservative Revolutionary Intellectuals in the Weimar Republic and National Socialist Germany: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, and Ernst Jϋnger Vincent S
State University of New York College at Buffalo - Buffalo State College Digital Commons at Buffalo State History Theses History and Social Studies Education 5-2013 Conservative Revolutionary Intellectuals in the Weimar Republic and National Socialist Germany: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, and Ernst Jϋnger Vincent S. Betts [email protected] Advisor John D. Abromeit, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History First Reader Georg G. Iggers, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University at Buffalo Department Chair Andrew D. Nicholls, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of History To learn more about the History and Social Studies Education Department and its educational programs, research, and resources, go to http://history.buffalostate.edu/. Recommended Citation Betts, incV ent S., "Conservative Revolutionary Intellectuals in the Weimar Republic and National Socialist Germany: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, and Ernst Jϋnger" (2013). History Theses. Paper 19. Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/history_theses Part of the European History Commons, and the Intellectual History Commons i ABSTRACT OF THESIS Conservative Revolutionary Intellectuals in the Weimar Republic and National Socialist Germany: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, and Ernst J ϋnger This thesis will examine the writings and career/life paths of three conservative revolutionary intellectuals during the Weimar Republic and National Socialist Germany. The purpose of this examination is not only to provide an overview of the development of conservative revolutionary thought in Germany after World War I, but also to investigate the influence these intellectuals had on the National Socialists’ seizure and consolidation of power. The works and lives of three important intellectuals will be examined: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, and Ernst Jϋnger. -
Villa Savoye Poissy, France [ La Maison Se Posera Au Milieu De L’Herbe Comme Un Objet, Sans Rien Déranger
Villa Savoye Poissy, France [ La maison se posera au milieu de l’herbe comme un objet, sans rien déranger. ] Le Corbusier Villa Savoye Située dans les environs de Paris, et terminée en 1931, la Villa Savoye est une maison de campagne privée conçue par l’architecte d’origine suisse Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, plus connu sous le nom de Le Corbusier. Elle est rapidement devenue l’un des plus célèbres bâtiments dans le style international d’architecture et établit la réputation de Le Corbusier comme l’un des architectes les plus importants du vingtième siècle. Importance architecturale Lorsque la construction de la Villa Savoye commença en 1928, Le Corbusier était déjà un architecte internationalement célèbre. Son livre Vers une Architecture avait été traduit en plusieurs langues, et son travail sur le bâtiment Centrosoyuz à Moscou l’avait mis en contact avec l’avant-garde russe. En tant que l’un des premiers membres du Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), il devenait aussi célèbre comme un défenseur important et éloquent de l’architecture © Fondation Le Corbusier moderne. La Villa Savoye allait être la dernière d’une série de « villas puristes » blanches, conçues et construites par Le Corbusier famille Savoye, Le Corbusier s’est assuré que la conception et son cousin Pierre Jeanneret à Paris et dans les environs de la maison devienne la représentation physique de ses dans les années 1920. Encouragé par la liberté donnée par la idéaux de « pureté totale ». © Fondation Le Corbusier 2 La villa allait être construite en accord avec les « cinq points » emblématiques que Le Corbusier avait développés comme principes directeurs pour son style architectural : 1. -
Das Reich Der Seele Walther Rathenau’S Cultural Pessimism and Prussian Nationalism ~ Dieuwe Jan Beersma
Das Reich der Seele Walther Rathenau’s Cultural Pessimism and Prussian Nationalism ~ Dieuwe Jan Beersma 16 juli 2020 Master Geschiedenis – Duitslandstudies, 11053259 First supervisor: dhr. dr. A.K. (Ansgar) Mohnkern Second supervisor: dhr. dr. H.J. (Hanco) Jürgens Abstract Every year the Rathenau Stiftung awards the Walther Rathenau-Preis to international politicians to spread Rathenau’s ideas of ‘democratic values, international understanding and tolerance’. This incorrect perception of Rathenau as a democrat and a liberal is likely to have originated from the historiography. Many historians have described Rathenau as ‘contradictory’, claiming that there was a clear and problematic distinction between Rathenau’s intellectual theories and ideas and his political and business career. Upon closer inspection, however, this interpretation of Rathenau’s persona seems to be fundamentally incorrect. This thesis reassesses Walther Rathenau’s legacy profoundly by defending the central argument: Walther Rathenau’s life and motivations can first and foremost be explained by his cultural pessimism and Prussian nationalism. The first part of the thesis discusses Rathenau’s intellectual ideas through an in-depth analysis of his intellectual work and the historiography on his work. Motivated by racial theory, Rathenau dreamed of a technocratic utopian German empire led by a carefully selected Prussian elite. He did not believe in the ‘power of a common Europe’, but in the power of a common German Europe. The second part of the thesis explicates how Rathenau’s career is not contradictory to, but actually very consistent with, his cultural pessimism and Prussian nationalism. Firstly, Rathenau saw the First World War as a chance to transform the economy and to make his Volksstaat a reality. -
Villa Savoye Poissy, France [ the House Will Stand in the Midst of the Fields Like an Object, Without Disturbing Anything Around It
Villa Savoye Poissy, France [ The house will stand in the midst of the fields like an object, without disturbing anything around it. ] Le Corbusier Villa Savoye Lying on the outskirts of Paris, France, and completed in 1931, Villa Savoye was designed as a private country house by the Swiss-born architect, Le Corbusier. It quickly became one of the most influential buildings in the International style of architecture and cemented Le Corbusier’s reputation as one of the most important architects of the 20th century. Architectural significance When the construction of Villa Savoye began in 1928, Le Corbusier was already an internationally known architect. His book Vers une Architecture (Towards a New Architecture) had been translated into several languages, while his work on the Centrosoyuz Building in Moscow, Russia, had brought him into contact with the Russian avant-garde. As one of the first members of the Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM), he was also becoming known as an important and vocal champion of modern architecture. Villa Savoye would be the last in a series of white ‘Purist villas’ designed and © Fondation Le Corbusier constructed by Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret in and around the city of Paris during the 1920s. Encouraged by the Savoye family’s open brief, Le Corbusier ensured that the design of the house would become the physical representation of his ‘Total Purity’ ideals. © Fondation Le Corbusier 2 The villa was to be constructed according to the emblematic ‘Five Points’ Le Corbusier had developed as guiding principles for his modernist architectural style: 1. -
Enchanted Catastrophe
ENCHANTED CATASTROPHE What an amazing country where the houses are taller than churches —FERNAND LÉGER AFTER VISITING THE UNITED STATES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 19311 “What is this new religion?” he wondered, and then concluded: “It’s Wall Street that dominates this new world with all of its height.”1 Léger’s astonishment may seem dated today, when luxury high-rises and tall office buildings have come to appear more banal than transcendent, and stands in contrast to the more sensationalistic response of his friend Le Corbusier, who quipped that New York’s skyscrapers were “too small” when he visited the city four years later. Yet his ultimate point remains remarkably acute: “the vertical push is in line with the economic order.”2 For in contrast to the traditional image of the religious spire, the capitalist transformation of the tall tower typology has come to represent the Americanization of metropolitan modernity, and although ostensibly secular, it continues to be mystified to this day. The skyscraper is more than just a symbolic icon of capitalist power, however, for as Carol Willis argues in her study Form Follows Finance, it is also direct index of financial investment and real estate speculation.3 Léger apparently recognized this not long after the stock market crash of 1929 when he wrote: “Wall Street has gone too far in transforming everything into speculation. Wall Street is an amazing abstraction, but catastrophic. American vertical architecture has gone too far….”4 1. Fernand Léger, “New York,” in Fonctions de la peinture (Paris: Editions Gallimard, 2004), 152-3. -
Manchin on Lepenies, 'The Seduction of Culture in German History'
H-Nationalism Manchin on Lepenies, 'The Seduction of Culture in German History' Review published on Sunday, October 1, 2006 Wolf Lepenies. The Seduction of Culture in German History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006. 270 pp. $24.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-691-12131-4. Reviewed by Anna Manchin (Department of History, Brown University) Published on H-Nationalism (October, 2006) The Life and Politics of an Idea Wolf Lepenies, one of Germany's foremost public intellectuals, has written a fascinating and chilling essay on the seemingly unshakable German "attitude" of valuing culture over politics. This attitude contributed not only to the rise of fascism; it also accounted for the historian Friedrich Meinecke's conviction that, in the aftermath of World War II, Germany did not need a political reckoning, but an "intensified development of the Germans' inner existence," preferably in spiritual-religious Goethe communities. Fritz Stern's notion of a specific "Germanic spirit" and various revisions of it were crucial to the writing of an earlier generation of intellectual historians (including George Mosse, Fritz Ringer, and Peter Gay) who searched for an explanation for fascism's quick and easy rise to power in a nation of Germany's intellectual and cultural heritage. They all found an answer in German culture's romantic, anti-rationalist, and anti-democratic tendencies; a new mix of romanticism and technology, along with a lack of a liberal political tradition; the specific experience and spiritual mode of German society after the war; and the German tendency to embrace "art as a model for life," and they all agreed that cultural climate was important for politics.