The metapolitics of Friberg fascism

Friberg i samtal med Guldfiske
om non-aggression i Finspång

Daniel Friberg is a prominent member of Motpol, a small Swedish right-wing think tank modeled on the French GRECE around Alain de Benoist. Motpol promotes the ideas of De Benoist, Guillame Faye, Alexander Dugin and other controversial thinkers of the “New Right”. Another prominent supporter of Motpol is Joakim Andersen (a.k.a. Oskorei), an eclectic intellectual who at least previously had a strong sympathy for Evolian Traditionalism. Friberg and Andersen have also been associated (perhaps wrongly) with a “hard” nationalist split from the Sweden Democrats, centered on its youth group SDU. The derogatory term “Friberg fascist” was coined during that particular fracas.

“Högern kommer tillbaka” (The comeback of the right) is a book by Friberg, with a preface by Oskorei. The book is rather short and surprisingly bland. It reads like a number of blog entries, loosely edited to create a book. Perhaps it's intended as a “soft” introduction to Motpol's ideas. Evola is mentioned only in passing, Dugin not at all. Instead, the emphasis is on De Benoist. Friberg's main point is that a “metapolitical” struggle is of paramount importance to reestablish the hegemony of the conservative right. By this, he means a kind of “culture war” to counter the already ongoing Kulturkampf of the left and the liberals. Exposing political correctness, redefining words and terms, and supporting alt-media are important part of the “metapolitical” strategy. The book gives a very intellectual impression, suggesting (of course) that it's written by intellectual types (who always tend to overstate their importance). Indeed, its main explanation for the present state of affairs is a kind of conspiracy theory, according to which “cultural Marxists” inspired by Gramsci and the Frankfurt school has infiltrated the ideology-producing institutions of Western society. Hence, the need for a cultural-intellectual counter-conspiracy. Only when Friberg discusses harassment of right-wing nationalists by the liberal media does he strike a less academic pose, recommending everything from legal action to pouring dirty water on snooping reporters as suitable acts of defiance!

Friberg's goal is a European “imperium” in the form of a federation of ethnically homogenous nation-states (or perhaps regions), with a common foreign policy and army. Perhaps something along the lines of Switzerland? Immigration from non-European countries should be stopped, and the new Europe should be independent from both the United States and Russia, while using the contradictions between the great powers to its advantage. Traditional gender roles, opposition to abortion and homosexuality, alliances with the conservative sectors of the Catholic Church and rejection of “the ideas of 1789” are other parts of the mix. The economic system of the new order is less clear, Friberg (an economist and private entrepreneur) being mostly positive towards the free market. This, however, seems to contradict his criticism of liberalism as turning people into mindless consumers. Indeed, an important point in the book is that the left has really become “the court jester” of the neo-liberal right, which gladly accepts the multi-cultural project, since it's perfectly compatible with capitalism and consumerism.

Occasionally, Friberg's rejection of liberalism and egalitarianism goes much deeper than simply 1789. He attacks the Renaissance, the Reformation and industrialism, suggesting an affinity with, well, Julius Evola. A curious fact that struck me when reading “Högern kommer tillbaka” is that it says very little about specifically Swedish history and traditions, instead emphasizing a kind of European or Indo-European identity. Admittedly, however, Friberg's associate Andersen does discuss Swedish culture and history at some length at Motpol's blog. Friberg ends his book on a surprisingly moderate note, by (in effect) calling for a tactical vote for the Sweden Democrats, despite the fact that many followers of Motpol's blog loath the present leadership of the party due to its expulsions of hard nationalists. (The Sweden Democrats or SD is a “parliamentary” right-wing, nationalist and anti-immigration party which occasionally attempts to sound “respectable”, for instance by expelling or silencing people who are too obviously racist or fascist. Thus, the SD recently expelled most of its youth group, the SDU!)

Overall, Friberg's book sounds optimistic, despite references to Faye's idea of “convergent catastrophes”. Motpol is convinced that the hegemony of the “cultural Marxists” is already breaking apart, that the majority of the European peoples haven't been affected by the liberal/leftist rot, and that the future therefore belongs to the New Right. Personally, I think Motpol will simply become another intriguing footnote in intellectual history. I'm no fascist, obviously, but had I been one, I would have looked for a new Caesar or Napoleon (Friberg's examples of extraordinary individuals), rather than betting on a “metapolitically interesting” website. But sure, who knows…