The Problem of Democracy by Alain De Benoist

The Problem of Democracy by Alain De Benoist

The Problem of Democracy is the first of Alain de Benoist's book-length political works to appear in English. It presents the complexity and depth which underlies all of de Benoist's work and which is often neglected by those who seek to dismiss him by oversimplifying or distorting his arguments. De Benoist shows how democracy is, contrary to what some critics have claimed, something which has been a part of our civilisation from the beginning. The problem, he says, is not the notion of democracy in itself, but rather the current understanding of the term which, instead of empowering the individual, reduces him to little more than a cog in a machine over which he has no control, and in which the direction is set by politicians with little genuine accountability. De Benoist proposes that effective democracy would mean a return to an understanding of citizenship as being tied to one's belonging to a specific political community based on shared values and common historical ties, while doing away with the liberal notion of the delegation of sovereignty to elected representatives. The type of government which is called for is thus a return to the form of government widely understood in Antiquity, but which now seems to us to be a revolutionary notion. This is the first in a series of volumes by Alain de Benoist which will be translated and published by Arktos.

Alain de Benoist is a key figure in the European 'New Right' movement, which began in France in 1968 with the founding of GRECE (Research and Study Group for European Civilization), a metapolitical school of thought. Although though he rejects the moniker 'New Right' for himself, considering himself as falling outside the normal Left/Right split, he remains its prominent representative to this day. He has fought for Europeans' right to keep their identity in the face of multiculturalism, and he has opposed immigration, preferring the preservation of national cultures to forced integration of immigrant populations. Benoist has been dogged by unfounded charges of radicalism throughout his career, but they have had no effect on his productivity or ambition. He has written hundreds of books and essays on immigration, religion, philosophy, and political theory, among other themes.

With his book Vu de droite (View from the Right), he got the Grand Prize de l'Essai from the Académie Française in 1978. He is also the editor-in-chief of the journals Nouvelle Ecole and Krisis, and his work has appeared in Mankind Quarterly, Telos, The Scorpion, The Occidental Quarterly, and Tyr, among other publications. He has had a huge impact on the intellectual and ideological understanding of the European political situation over the last four decades. His books The Crisis of Democracy (2011), Beyond Human Rights (2011), Manifesto for a European Renaissance (2012), Carl Schmitt Today (2013), and On the Edge of the Abyss (2015) were previously published by Arktos.

He continues to write, speak, and do interviews. He is based in Paris.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781907166167
ISBN 10	1907166165
Title	The Problem of Democracy
Author	Alain De Benoist
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Arktos Media
Year published	2011-02-28
Number of pages	106
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.