cover image: Roots, trees, and the re-enchantment of nature

Roots, trees, and the re-enchantment of nature

5 Nov 2024

The French new right's eco-political utopia People on the radical right are often considered to be climatedeniers. Today, however, the new right in France has embraced aradical, ecological agenda and set out to experiment with tradi-tional, agrarian ways of life. This paper asks how the new rightcurrently revives a far-right tradition of ecological thought andhow they practice this ecological vision. To move forward withtheir ethno-ecological utopia and salvage European civilization,they turn away from national politics and create local communitiesor ‘identitarian sanctuaries’. This article explores the new right’spracticed eco-utopias from three different angles. First, it showshow the ‘native soil’ and notions of ‘rootedness’ are pivotal fortheir understanding of identity. Second, it examines how the newright reframes ‘biodiversity’ as a plurality of European cultures,currently threatened by global capitalism and unchecked immigra-tion. Finally, the article argues that the new right’s critique ofmodernity is not only political but also epistemic. To break freefrom modern scientific worldviews and enable a re-enchantmentof nature, they turn to fantasy literature as well as Romantic andneo-pagan spiritualities.
peace and conflict

Authors

Manni Crone

Pages
7
Published in
Denmark