News from the dark side of the force

Whether in spy films like those of Agent 007, adventure films in the style of Indiana Jones, or superhero films from the Marvel factory, the best gauge of entertainment quality was provided by the figure of the antagonist. Whether it was a billionaire megalomaniac creator of an ultimate weapon, a Nazi collector of paraphilias and treasures, or a mutant with a twisted brain and incredible powers, if the character who had to provide the counterpoint was not up to the hero's level, the fun and tension would dilute. Obviously, we all understood that those enemies were impossible exaggerations and, above all, we viewed them from the peace of mind of knowing that in the end they would be defeated.Reading the French political scientist Arnaud Miranda (Clermont-Ferrand, 1997), one does not know what scares them more: whether discovering that those disheveled nemeses are perhaps not so unreal, or having the feeling that this time they will not necessarily be defeated or, at least, not completely. Because The Dark Enlightenment focuses on the constellation of authors who, from various corners of the internet, between onanism and intertextuality, have been creating the breeding ground for growing neoreactionary thought.The cartography proposed by Miranda reveals to us the diversity of a movement that would be situated between the poles marked by the two most recognizable names: Curtis Yarvin (Brooklyn, 1973) and Nick Land (Sutton Coldfield, 1962). Their proposals converge in various philias and, above all, numerous phobias. Thus, they share the will to destroy democracy and the liberal system identified as castrators of singularity, technophilia, and hypermasculinity (the absence of women and the misogynistic tone of their writings are not coincidental). This dismantling involves an implacable attack against the State, against the press, and against knowledge, hand in hand with the dismissal of civil servants, the subversion of facts, and the discrediting of universities.Against all odds, these marginal lucubrations suddenly came to fuel the political front line as the result of a triple stroke of luck. The crisis of the liberal system synchronized with the support of the financial muscle of magnates like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen –more than mere fellow travelers– and the phenomenon of Donald Trump's second term. With the Republican Party abducted, a global transformation is now being sought: from Milei's Argentina to a Europe that would like to be abandoned to Russian ambitions and thus cast into neo-reactionary ideals.Although Miranda plays it safe regarding the future, there may be two elements for hope. The first is already captured by the book itself, when it points out the precariousness of the balance of power between the traditionalism embodied by Vice President J.D. Vance, the techno-futurism of Elon Musk, and the national populism of Steve Bannon. In fact, stability has already blown up during Trump's term and it seems difficult for anyone else to recreate it. As for the second, the consistency of the nascent pushback will have its litmus test in the U.S. midterm elections in November. It will be a new occasion to understand that democracy is neither given, nor guaranteed, nor can it defend itself.