Essay explores why 'dark' prefixes dominate political thought from right to left
A new essay by Diedrich Diederichsen examines the proliferation of 'dark' prefixes in contemporary political theory, from Curtis Yarvin's 'Dark Enlightenment' and Javier Milei's 'Dark Liberalism' to Kohei Saito's 'Dark Socialism' and 'Dark Woke'. The author questions why darkness appeals to far-right, libertarian, and leftist thinkers alike. The essay notes that the left and countercultures have lost future-oriented ideas, a critique Mark Fisher made 20 years ago in his analysis of capitalist deadlock. Eva von Redecker recently reached a similar conclusion in her widely-read book on fascism. Resistance to various forms of the right (economic libertarians, ethnic nationalists, evangelicals) suffers from the absence of a self-evident counter-project. The essay argues that such a project has been articulated too often, causing its terms to crumble in the mouth like morels, or has been forgotten amid pragmatism and realism—a loss evident long before the current moment, as Fisher's success shows.
Key facts
- Essay by Diedrich Diederichsen published on Freitag.de
- Examines 'Dark Enlightenment' (Curtis Yarvin), 'Dark Liberalism' (Javier Milei), 'Dark Socialism' (Kohei Saito), and 'Dark Woke'
- Questions why darkness appeals to far-right, libertarian, and leftist thinkers
- References Mark Fisher's critique of capitalist deadlock from 20 years ago
- References Eva von Redecker's recent book on fascism
- Argues resistance to the right lacks a self-evident counter-project
- Suggests the counter-project has been over-articulated or forgotten due to pragmatism
- Notes Fisher's success as evidence of long-standing loss of future visions
Entities
Artists
- Diedrich Diederichsen
- Curtis Yarvin
- Javier Milei
- Kohei Saito
- Mark Fisher
- Eva von Redecker
Institutions
- Freitag.de