Tamir Bar-On
Encyclopedia
Tamir Bar-On is the leading Anglo-American expert on the French Nouvelle Droite
(ND) or European New Right (ENR), a school of thought accused of fascism
by its liberal and left-wing critics. Other scholars like Arthur Versluis point to the lack of clear reference points for the left-right spectrum, while dismissing the claim that the Nouvelle Droite is neo-fascist. Andreas Umland calls Bar-On's Where Have All The Fascists Gone? (Ashgate, 2007) "the most comprehensive scholarly investigation into the ENR in the English language yet." He argues it is "destined to become a standard reference and perhaps even the most influential English-language study on the subject for years to come." A Canadian citizen, Bar-On is a Full-time Professor in the Department of International Relations and Humanities at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), Campus Querétaro
, Mexico.
(Toronto
), while he earned his Ph.D. from McGill University
(Montreal
, Quebec
). The title of his dissertation was "The Ambiguities of the Intellectual European New Right, 1968-1999." His external thesis advisor was the esteemed British historian of fascism Roger Griffin. Griffin penned the "Foreword" to Bar-On's Where Have All The Fascists Gone?, which argues that the ENR is a "modern revitalization movement" with intellectual roots in the neo-fascist milieu. Bar-On was formerly a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at DePaul University
(Chicago
), as well as a professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University
in Waterloo
(Ontario
), University of Windsor
, and George Brown College (Toronto).
, attempted to revive the tradition of the inter-war Conservative Revolution (CR), which legitimised Fascist and Nazi regimes. The ND worldview is an "ambiguous synthesis of revolutionary Right or Conservative Revolution (CR) and New Left
(NL) ideals," which Bar-On summarizes in the equation: "CR + NL = nouvelle droite." A leading historian of fascism, Ze’ev Sternhell, argued fascism was first born in France as a union of ultra-nationalism + Marxist revisionism. Similarly, Bar-On posits that the most sophisticated revision of postwar-neofascism is the product of French intellectuals such as Alain de Benoist, who fused New Left concerns of the 1968 generation with revolutionary Right-wing longings for a homogeneous identity. The historian John Hellman relied on Bar-On to argue that Alain de Benoist continues the "non-conformist" tradition of inter-war French thinker Alexandre Marc.
Nouvelle Droite
Nouvelle Droite is a school of political thought founded largely on the works of Alain de Benoist and GRECE .-Etymology and history:...
(ND) or European New Right (ENR), a school of thought accused of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
by its liberal and left-wing critics. Other scholars like Arthur Versluis point to the lack of clear reference points for the left-right spectrum, while dismissing the claim that the Nouvelle Droite is neo-fascist. Andreas Umland calls Bar-On's Where Have All The Fascists Gone? (Ashgate, 2007) "the most comprehensive scholarly investigation into the ENR in the English language yet." He argues it is "destined to become a standard reference and perhaps even the most influential English-language study on the subject for years to come." A Canadian citizen, Bar-On is a Full-time Professor in the Department of International Relations and Humanities at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), Campus Querétaro
Querétaro
Querétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro....
, Mexico.
Biography
Bar-On completed his BA and MA in political science at York UniversityYork University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
(Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
), while he earned his Ph.D. from McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
(Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
). The title of his dissertation was "The Ambiguities of the Intellectual European New Right, 1968-1999." His external thesis advisor was the esteemed British historian of fascism Roger Griffin. Griffin penned the "Foreword" to Bar-On's Where Have All The Fascists Gone?, which argues that the ENR is a "modern revitalization movement" with intellectual roots in the neo-fascist milieu. Bar-On was formerly a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
(Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
), as well as a professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University is a university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It also has campuses in Brantford, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and a future proposed campus in Milton, Ontario. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada....
in Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
(Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
), University of Windsor
University of Windsor
The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...
, and George Brown College (Toronto).
Where Have All the Fascists Gone?
Where Have All The Fascists Gone? examines how fascists in the post-World War II period often jettisoned open violence and waved the "post-fascist" and "anti-fascist" banners. For example, the ND meets many though not all of Stanley Payne's exhaustive criteria of fascist movements or regimes of the inter-war era. Yet, the leading ND intellectual, Alain de BenoistAlain de Benoist
Alain de Benoist is a French academic, philosopher, a founder of the Nouvelle Droite and head of the French think tank GRECE. Benoist is a critic of liberalism, free markets and egalitarianism.-Biography:...
, attempted to revive the tradition of the inter-war Conservative Revolution (CR), which legitimised Fascist and Nazi regimes. The ND worldview is an "ambiguous synthesis of revolutionary Right or Conservative Revolution (CR) and New Left
New Left
The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...
(NL) ideals," which Bar-On summarizes in the equation: "CR + NL = nouvelle droite." A leading historian of fascism, Ze’ev Sternhell, argued fascism was first born in France as a union of ultra-nationalism + Marxist revisionism. Similarly, Bar-On posits that the most sophisticated revision of postwar-neofascism is the product of French intellectuals such as Alain de Benoist, who fused New Left concerns of the 1968 generation with revolutionary Right-wing longings for a homogeneous identity. The historian John Hellman relied on Bar-On to argue that Alain de Benoist continues the "non-conformist" tradition of inter-war French thinker Alexandre Marc.
Books
- Where Have All the Fascists Gone?, Hampshire and Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7546-7154-1
Articles
- "Understanding Political Conversion and Mimetic Rivalry", Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 10/3 (December, 2009), pp. 241–264.
- "Fascism to the Nouvelle Droite: The Dream of Pan-European Empire", Journal of Contemporary European Studies 16/3 (2008), pp. 329–345.
- "The Ambiguities of the Nouvelle Droite, 1968-1999", The European Legacy 6/3 (2001), pp. 333–351.
- "Fighting Violence: A Critique of the War On Terrorism", International Politics 42 (2005), pp. 225–245.
- "A Critical Response to Roger Griffin's ‘Fascism's new faces and new facelessness in the post-fascist epoch’", Erwagen, Wissen, Ethik (Deliberation, Knowledge, Ethics) 15/3 (April 2004), pp. 307-309.
- "The Ambiguities of Football, Culture, and Social Transformation in Latin America", Sociological Research Online 2/4 (1997), pp. 1–17.
Chapters in Edited Volume
- "Quebec Separatist Conflict", in Nigel Young (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Peace (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
- "European New Right", "Globalization," "Gramsci", and "GRECE" entries in Cyprian Blamires (ed.) (with Paul Jackson), World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2006), pp. 211–214; 280-281; 286; 290-291. ISBN 1-57607-940-6
- "A Critical Response to Roger Griffin's ‘Fascism's new faces" in Roger Griffin, Werner Loh, and Andreas Umland, (eds.), Fascism Past and Present, West and East (Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag, 2006), pp. 85–92. ISBN 978-3-89821-674-6
- "The Ambiguities of the Nouvelle Droite, 1968-1999", in Harvey Simmons and Sergei Plekhanov (eds.), Is fascism history?: selected papers (Toronto: Centre for International Security Studies, 2001).
External links
- Tamir Bar-On, Where Have All The Fascists Gone?, "Introduction," pp. 1–19, available at: http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Where_Have_All_The_Fascists_Gone_Intro.pdf
- The Ambiguities of the Nouvelle Droite, 1968-1999
- Amazon: Where Have All The Fascists Gone?
- Book review for Abdullah Ocalan, Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation
- http://www.socresonline.org.uk/2/4/bar-on.html
- Interview and book launch (York University, 2008) for Where Have All The Fascists Gone?
- What’s Right?: A Review Essay
- The Communitarian Third Way: Alexandre Marc's Ordre Nouveau, 1930-2000
- Tamir Bar-On Blog