neo-reactionary

English

Alternative forms

• neoreactionary, NRx

Etymology

From neo- +‎ reactionary, in the contemporary meaning popularized in a 2010 blog post.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌniːəʊɹɪˈakʃn̩(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

neo-reactionary (comparative more neo-reactionary, superlative most neo-reactionary)

1. (politics, chiefly derogatory) Reacting against the (especially liberal) values of the modern world; now typically seen as characterised by opposition to egalitarianism, support for strong centralised government, and espousal of conservative economic policies. [from 20th c.]
   • 1945, Labor Fact Book, volume 7, page 197:

     Following the outbreak of a revolution in Bolivia in December, 1943, the CTAL labeled the new Bolivian regime a "neo-reactionary victory" and pointed out that "their aim is undemocratic […]".

   • 2017 April, Andrew Sullivan, “The Reactionary Temptation”, in New York Magazine‎^[2]:

     Austria narrowly avoided installing a neo-reactionary president in last year’s two elections.

   • 2023 October 28, Elizabeth Spiers, “A Tech Overlord’s Horrifying, Silly Vision for Who Should Rule the World”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     Neoreactionary thought contends that the world would operate much better in the hands of a few tech-savvy elites in a quasi-feudal system.

Noun

neo-reactionary (plural neo-reactionaries)

1. (politics, chiefly derogatory) Someone who holds such views. [from 20th c.]
   • 1991, Z Magazine, volume 4, page 16:

     With the accession to power of the neo-reactionaries, Nixon and then Reagan, the timber companies and the "immediate gratification" right took complete charge.

   • 2013 November 23, Klint Finley, “Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries”, in TechCrunch‎^[4], archived from the original on 2013-12-02:

     Neoreactionaries believe that while technology and capitalism have advanced humanity over the past couple centuries, democracy has actually done more harm than good. They propose a return to old-fashioned gender roles, social order and monarchy.

   • 2017 May 11, Andy Beckett, “Accelerationism: how a fringe philosophy predicted the future we live in”, in The Guardian‎^[5]:

     Since 2013, he has become a guru for the US-based far-right movement neoreaction, or NRx as it often calls itself. Neoreactionaries believe in the replacement of modern nation-states, democracy and government bureaucracies by authoritarian city states, which on neoreaction blogs sound as much like idealised medieval kingdoms as they do modern enclaves such as Singapore.

See also

• neoreaction

Further reading

• neo-reactionary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia