Guillaume Faye's Archeofuturism

"The egalitarian civilisation sprung from modernity is now witnessing its last good days. We must now think about the aftermath of the catastrophe: we must already start developing the vision of an Archeofuturist world for the aftermath of the chaos."

The first English translation of Guillaume's Faye's Archeofuturism was published earlier this year. The book offers radical analyses and solutions to the problems of modernity, and seems as pertinent today as when it was first published in French more than a decade ago.

Guillaume Faye is one of the most radical and influential theorists of the French Nouvelle Droite (New Right). He represents a strand of European nationalism that is fiercely critical of modern egalitarianism, favouring instead older, hierarchical forms of society and government with which to respond to the catastrophes which (Faye believes) are about to befall Western Europe.

The "convergence of catastrophes"

The book is built around three connected ideas: first, that Western civilization is presently threatened by a cataclysm from a set of catastrophes that will converge some time in the early Twenty-First Century; second, that the individualism and egalitarianism of the modern world are inadequate to meet the challenges facing us; and third, that we should start to think about the aftermath of the impending cataclysm in terms of a new synthesis of ancestral values, science and technology – Archeofuturism.

The "converging lines of catastrophe", according to Faye, "concern the environment, demography, economy, religion, epidemics and geopolitics". With regard to the environment, he believes that the extension of Western-style industrial progress and development to untold billions of people in the Third World would be devastating, even if it were possible, and he puts forward an alternative order where most of humanity lives in traditional, pastoral societies with low levels of energy use, pollution and consumption, arguing that such communities are not only sustainable, but socially more stable and happy than the urban hells in which much of humanity is presently compelled to exist.

Faye is worried about the changing demographics of Europe. The ageing of the indigenous population coupled with uncontrolled immigration from Africa, Asia and elsewhere places severe strains on the economy and disrupts cultural and social continuity. Growing tribalism and conflict are exacerbated by an increasingly fanatical Islamism:

"Despite reassuring denials on the part of the Western media, radical Islam is spreading like wildfire... The consequences of this phenomenon will be... violent clashes in Europe – particularly France and Great Britain."

Islam, fuelled by "veiled, repressed and dissimulated resentment of the countries of the South towards their former colonisers" will, Faye believes, lead an intensifying confrontation between North and South, displacing the East-West axis of geopolitical competition that dominated so much of the Twentieth Century.

Archeofuturism: a philosophy for the post-catastrophic age

"Archeofuturism... enables us to make a break with the obsolete philosophy of progress and the egalitarian, humanitarian and individualist dogmas of modernity, which are unsuited to our need to think about the future and survive the century of iron and fire that is looming near."

Guillaume Faye seeks to reapply the values of social organisation that have proven effective for most of human history to the new, "post-catastrophic" world. These values include: the transmission of ethnic, folk and spiritual traditions; separation of gender roles; the establishment of organic, hierarchically organised communities "from the family to the folk"; matching of duties to rights; the prestige of the warrior caste; and the definition of peoples as "communities of destiny" rather than as masses of unconnected individuals.

"To face the future, it will be more and more necessary to adopt an archaic mind-set... one capable of restoring the ancestral values that inform 'orderly societies'." 

Archeofuturism is envisaged as a synthesis of revitalised ancestral values and a futuristic spirit of scientific and technological exploration in the service of European peoples: 

"The essence of futurism is the planning of the future... the envisaging of civilisation... as a work in motion.... Politics here are understood... as the future transformation of the folk, driven by ambition, a spirit of independence, creativity and the will to power."

Birth of the Eurosiberian Federation

In the last chapter of the book, entitled "A Day in the Life of Dimitri Leonidovitch Oblomov", Faye offers us a fictional glimpse of life in the year 2073, as seen through the eyes of a high-ranking official of the Eurosiberian Federation. It includes the following timeline of events leading up to the "Great Catastrophe" of 2014-16, the ensuing chaos and eventual transformation of continental Europe.

1999-2014

Successive economic crises cause increasing poverty across Europe. Unchecked immigration leads to ethnic tensions, crime and a climate of insecurity in the cities.

2014

In the French national elections, the Front National (FN) receives 30% of votes, whilst the Popular Muslim Party (PPM) receives 26%. In response to Muslim predictions that France will be an Islamic state within ten years, FN issues a call for "Resistance, Reconquest and Liberation". The PPM leader in the National Assembly is murdered: FN is blamed, but many suspect the Algerian Secret Service – its motive to spark a revolt of Muslims in France.

2014-16

"The Great Catastrophe." Uprisings by armed ethnic gangs lead to unprecedented violence in French cities. Unrest spreads to Belgium, Holland, Britain and Germany. Widespread strikes lead to paralysis of the economy and shortages of food and water. Cities are ransacked, the police overwhelmed. Civil war breaks out and people flee the cities. War, epidemics and famine kill 40% of people in Western Europe. In parallel developments, nuclear war between India and Pakistan kills two million, and a vast swathe of the Amazon rainforest catches fire, causing ecological and climatic upheavals. The global economy collapses.

2017-18

Islamic republics of North Africa exploit the chaos in France by sending an invading army to occupy Provence. European armies are mobilized but are paralysed by lack of electricity and fuel. Pockets of resistance, or "baronies", are established containing exclusively indigenous Europeans.

2018-25

Continuing famines and environmental disasters. Chaos spreads beyond Europe. India, China, Japan and Russia retain some semblance of order, whilst multi-ethnic nations implode. America is wracked by famines, epidemics and ethnic conflicts. The Muslim army in France conquers Lorraine and burns down Metz cathedral.

2025-28

"Reconquista." The baronies seek help from the Russian Federation. A Russian army of one million is amassed, and crosses central Europe to the "Western Europe Occupation Zone". Aided by forces from Scandinavia, the Baltic, Ukraine, Poland and Brittany, the Russians drive out the Islamic invaders. The decisive battle takes place in the ruins of Disneyland Paris. Remnants of the Muslim army and ethnic gangs are forcibly shipped to North Africa. Tens of millions of people of non-European origin are deported to Madascar.

2030-38

"The Second Renaissance." Europe spontaneously regroups into autonomous ethno-cultural region-states including Bavaria, Wallonia, Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Normandy, Provence, Euzkadi and Galicia. Technological activity resumes and the economic system is partially restored. Russia merges with the Community of European States to form the Eurosiberian Federation, which comes to be known as the "Great Homeland".

2040-2073

A two-tier economy evolves: a "techno-scientific" economy for a small-city-based technological elite (approximately 20% of the population), focused on transport, computer science, genetics, energy and space exploration; and for the remainder of the population a low energy, low pollution Medieval-style economy based on neo-traditional agriculture and crafts.

Archeofuturism or neo-feudalism?

Dimitri Oblomov's job in 2073 is to travel around the Federation resolving disagreements and conflicts between the regions. Unbound by cumbersome consultation processes, he is able to make quick, responsive decisions. As one of the urban elite, he has access to a transport system that is fast, efficient and non-polluting: jet aircraft and private cars have been replaced by high-speed airships, a modernised canal system and electromagnetic "planetrains" that whizz through airless tunnels at up to 20,000 kph.

Meanwhile, above ground the neo-traditionalist communities use equally non-polluting forms of transport such as horse-drawn carts; and because the great majority of Eurosiberians live sustainable (if basic) pastoral lives within such communities, nature is everywhere recovering and flourishing. Moreover, the relative ethnic homogeneity of the regional communities has fostered a revival of traditional languages and dialects, of folk traditions and pagan cults that coexist with Christianity.

Relationships between the two strata of this imagined society, living parallel lives technologically centuries apart, are not described in detail. It is unclear, for instance, how membership of the two classes is decided, or whether movement between them is possible, though Faye seems to suggest (somewhat implausibly) that the sense of meaning and worth that comes from being part of a close-knit traditional community would mitigate any yearning for the cosseted, fast-paced lifestyle of the technological elite.

Eurosiberia is described as "an organic assembly of large and highly autonomous regions", each of which controls its own linguistic, cultural and educational matters. All regions send representatives to the Federal Senate, which elects the Government. The Government's authority is absolute, but regions are free to organise themselves in pretty much any way they choose – as hereditary monarchies, socialist republics, etc. – provided they don't oppress their people, in which case they would risk expulsion from the Federation.

On the scientific front, advances in genetics and computer science have made possible "biotronic animals" – biological animal-robots – and "human chimeras" – pigmen, chimpanhumans and other man-animal hybrids, which are used mainly as organ banks. Medical advances have made possible an average lifespan of 105 years, though only for the elite – the pattern for rural, neo-archaic communities is high birthrate, high death rate. In Eurosiberia there seem to be few, if any, ethical constraints on science, and class-based differences in life quality are inbuilt.

Conclusion

Guillaume Faye's analysis of the unsustainability of Western civilisation at the end of the Twentieth Century may convince many readers of the converging lines of impending disaster, and (even if his time scale is wrong) of the need to think about and prepare for life after the Great Catastrophe. His fictional portrait of post-catastrophic Europe may be taken as a warning or call to action, which I believe all Europeans should heed.

His portrayal of a Eurosiberian Federation of autonomous regions, extending "from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, across fourteen time zones" and constituting "the largest geopolitical unit on Earth" may not appeal to those of us already concerned with corruption and abuses of power in the EU, but perhaps it represents a bold and timely response to the growth of political, economic and religious power blocks in the far- and mid-East. As Faye says, "the future requires us to envisage the Earth as structured in vast, quasi-imperial units in mutual conflict or cooperation."

This is a thought provoking book by one of the leading thinkers of the European nationalist movement, and it seems as relevant now as when it was written more than ten years ago. It throws into sharp relief the nature and urgency of the crises facing Europeans and offers us a way forward through Archeofuturism, an audacious synthesis of ancestral values and future science and technology, making, as Faye claims, "a radical break with contemporary values and morals."

Archeofuturism: European Visions of the Post-Catastrophic Age, Guillaume Faye. Published by Arktos Media Ltd., 2010 (translation by Sergio Knipe, editing and footnotes by John B. Morgan), 250 pages, price £17.00 soft cover, £26.00 hardback.