A Preview of “The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism”

“Perhaps it would be a great Christmas present for the depressed Leftist in one’s life?”

Introduction

This year marks the publication of a number of books authored by me, the last of which will be The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism for the publisher Palgrave MacMillan (up on Amazon here). It will treat all the issues examined in the earlier collection of essays What is Post-Modern Conservatism: Essays on Our Hugely Tremendous Time for Zero Books in more systematic detail. The book analyzes the emergence of what I call post-modern conservatism as a global political force. Emerging from the dynamics of neoliberal society and post-modern culture, one can trace the roots of these reactionary movements to the intellectual work of Joseph de Maistre, Michael Oakeshott, and others. However in practice these post-modern conservative movements tend to be far less reflective and far more a product of the culture they disdain than these earlier luminaries. After a lengthy theoretical reflection on these topics, The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism concludes with an analysis of these movements in practice, focusing specifically on the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, and Italy. My conclusion is that the practice of post-modern conservatism is oriented around positing Schmittian style “enemies” who frame an agonistic form of politics. The book concludes with some speculative comments on why post-modern conservatism will be unable to overcome the challenges of the epoch, before sketching out some ways a leftist democratic alternative can be developed. It will be released on December 14th of this year, anticipating what is sure to be a crazy election year in American politics.

For most of my life a certain form of neoliberalism seemed the only political alternative available to us, characterized by a great deal of inequality and limited opportunities for democratic participation. Post-modern conservatism is an impotent reaction to many of these problems, but it does demonstrate that there is a real hunger for political change today.

Outline of the Book

Unlike the collection of essays, The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism is intended as a systematic treatment of its subject matter from beginning to end. It is also quite a bit denser, being aimed at an academic audience. Perhaps it would be a great Christmas present for the depressed Leftist in one’s life? The book is introduced by my friend and a recent PhD Dylan De Jong (whose great Youtube channel you can check out here). In the introduction, De Jong focuses on the way the analysis developed in the book can help us understand the novelty of our current cultural condition. In particular, it examines what is novel about contemporary media and the politics it generates. The Preface provides an autobiographical and topical interpretation to the book, highlighting the main theme of the book that post-modern conservatism constitutes a shift from the neoliberal consensus which seemed triumphant in 1989. It also highlights some key tropes in an exploratory manner

Chapter One analyzes the concept of post-modernism, framing an analytical distinction between skeptical post-modern theory and authors who analyze post-modernism as a cultural condition. It also looks at the reaction to post-modernism from some conservative authors. It concludes by situating this book in the tradition of authors who treat post-modernism as a culture. Chapter Two is the most challenging in the book, trying to frame what is meant by neoliberal society and post-modern culture. It characterizes neoliberal society as defined by three kinds of transformations: socio-political, economic, and technological. These brought about immense changes, which were explicated by the products of post-modern culture such as literature and film. It then analyzes how post-modern culture is defined by changing experiences of space and time, and most importantly, by the destabilization of identity. It also analyzes the roots of this destabilization in secularism, liberalism, and capitalization.  All these myriad changes provided fertile soil for the rise of reactionary movements. Chapter Three traces the genealogy of post-modern conservatism in the work of major right-wing thinkers. In particular, it looks at the work of Edmund Burke, Joseph de Maistre, Michael Oakeshott, Lord Devlin, Robert Bork, and of course Peter Lawler, who originated the term post-modern conservatism. It also distinguishes this approach from other variants of conservative thought, from neoliberalism to Straussianism. It then analyzes the characteristics of contemporary post-modern conservatism, framing it as a reactionary outlook driven by resentment and fears of decline. It concludes with an examination of the agonistic politics of post-modern conservatism, particularly how the enemies of the movement are determined.