neo-reactionary

comparative more neo-reactionary · superlative most neo-reactionary · alternative neoreactionary · alternative NRx

1. derogatorygovernmentReacting 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.First known use 20th c.

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

   2017 April, Andrew Sullivan, “The Reactionary Temptation”, in New York Magazine

   2 more examples

   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 […]".

   1945, Labor Fact Book, volume 7, page 197

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

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

plural neo-reactionaries · alternative neoreactionary · alternative NRx

1. derogatorygovernmentSomeone who holds such views.First known use 20th c.

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

   1991, Z Magazine, volume 4, page 16

   2 more examples

   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.

   2013 November 23, Klint Finley, “Geeks for Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries”, in TechCrunch, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2013

   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.

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