My Summer Projects: Book, Article in Book, and Journal Article

As my teaching duties are completed at the TEC of Monterrey (Campus Queretaro) until August, here are my main summer projects below:

1) Write lots of chapters for my book, The French New Right: Three More Interpretations (2011-2012).

2) Complete my chapter on "Intellectual Right-Wing Extremism" for the book edited by Uwe Backes and Patrick Moreau entitled The Extreme Right in Europe: Current Trends and Perspectives. The book is a joint project of the UMR Cultures and Societies in Europe (Strasbourg, France) and of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Social Research on Totalitarianism (Dresden, Germany). This chapter will be completed at the end of June.

3) Write an article on the transnational worldview and influence of the French nouvelle droite. I hope to complete this article by next week and send it to an academic journal.

4) Solicit academics from around the world to take part in the Advisory Board for a new journal I am editing at the TEC of MONTERREY called Retos Internacionales.

5) As the picture above shows, hopefully spend some time near a Mexican ocean (I love the Pacific coast!).

Tamir Bar-On

Fifth Academic Article: Nouvelle Droite and Empire!

Here is the title of my fifth academic article:

"Fascism to the Nouvelle Droite: The Dream of Pan-European Empire," Journal of Contemporary European Studies 16 (3) (December 2008), pp. 327-345.

Here is the abstract below:

The purpose of this paper is to trace continuity in the attachment of the nouvelle droite to a homogeneous notion of pan-European identity since its birth in 1968. Like the nouvelle droite, early post-war neo-fascism and significant fascist elements in Italy were similarly obsessed with the decline of homogeneous pan-European or Western identities. Despite the ultra-nationalistic origins of historical fascism, early post-war neo-fascism and the nouvelle droite in different historical periods, the thread tying them together is the notion of a strong, unified, homogeneous, pan-European empire regenerated in defense against the dominant 'materialist' ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism, social democracy, socialism, capitalism and communism.

And the link to the full article:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/37770743/Dr-Tamir-Bar-On-The-Dream-of-Pan-European-Empire

By the way, the map above is of the Roman Empire in C.E. 117. The nouvelle droite under its leader Alain de Benoist has stated as its geopolitical preference the recreation of a pan-European empire in which there is a "Europe of a Hundred Flags." Internally, the regions or states would be homogeneous (cleansed of immigrants) led by an imperial centre with an authoritarian, elitist, corporatist bent. Yes to a European union says the nouvelle droite, but no to the capitalist, technocratic European Union of today. A united imperial Europe, the nouvelle droite reasons, would be able to challenge the world's sole remaining superpower and its primary enemy, the liberal capitalist United States of America. 

Tamir Bar-On

Fourth Academic Article: Fighting Violence!

Excuse the violent title (!), but here is the name of my fourth academic article:

"Fighting Violence: A Critique of the War On Terrorism," International Politics (42) (June 2005), pp. 225-245.

Here is the link below:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/33418617/Dr-Tamir-Bar-On-Fighting-Violence-A-Critique-of-the-War-On-Terrorism-International-Politics-(42)-(June-2005)-pp-225-245

Here is the paper's abstract:

This paper reviews the various ways in which violence is resorted to in the service of political ends. While it is commonly thought that terrorism is an activity that is solely engaged in by political outsiders, this paper will demonstrate that even constitutionally legitimate political entities have been known to themselves engage in terrorist acts. From Robespierre to the World Trade Center, with numerous stops along the way in locations as diverse as Hiroshima, Buenos Aires, and Winnipeg, the paper aims to investigate just what exactly terrorism is, and therefore what the actual object of the war on terror ought to be.

I hope that the piece is useful for understanding the origins of the word terrorism and re-thinking some strategies in respect of the "war on terror". The paper also has a useful definition of terrorism, classifies terrorism along ideological types, and points out that terrorism can be committed by both state and non-state actors. I make no bones about it that governments, the right, and left all tend to excuse their political violence and simultaneously exaggerate the violence of their political foes.

I also have suggestions at the end of the piece for inching us towards a broader culture of peace.

Tamir Bar-On

Academic Leader at TEC of MONTERREY: Dr. Zahar

Yesterday we had the pleasure to hear a former colleague at McGill University, Dr. Marie-Joelle Zahar, speak at the TEC of Monterrey (Campus Queretaro). She is now a professor at the University of Montreal. Here is a link to the Academic Leaders' project she was involved with at my university (in Spanish):

http://lideresacademicos.net/node/195

Marie-Joelle Zahar is an expert on militias and war economies. Zahar tries to analyze how militias might exit from the armed struggle, or the reasons why they continue to take up arms after official "peace deals" are signed. As a specialist on fascism and neo-fascism, what we have in common is a focus on political manifestations of violence.

Tamir Bar-On

Memorial for Two TEC students today...

It is indeed a sad day. Today the TECNOLOGICO DE MONTERREY, the main campus in Monterrey, has a ceremony for two graduate students tragically killed by stray bullets on March 19, 2010. The two students are Javier Arredondo and Jorge Mercado. A Facebook site on their behalf has already generated close to 4,000 followers:

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=102480629787015&share_id=106326476063157&comments=1#!/group.php?gid=102480629787015

There are serious questions asked of the Mexican authorities on the site, including why they could not be identified as TEC students.

Today my heart is filled with sadness for the students that will no longer smell the arid, hot sun of Mexico, their families, friends, and colleagues that must endure terrible pain. YOU DO NOT WALK ALONE. This Political Science professor from TECNOLOGICO DE MONTERREY, CAMPUS QUERETARO, is with you. And so are millions around Mexico. Javier and Jorge, may your souls rest in peace.

Tamir Bar-On

My Third Academic Article!

In 2003-4, a heated debate about fascism took place in a German journal, Erwagen, Wissen, Ethik. In the debate, Roger Griffin, the esteemed historian of fascism, was invited to write a piece about contemporary fascism's "facelessness." Academics, including myself, were asked to respond to Griffin's article. Intellectuals from Germany, England, Canada, the United States, and numerous other countries responded. What was unique about the debate was the collaboration between German and Anglophone academics on Fascism.

My piece was entitled, “A Critical Response to Roger Griffin’s ‘Fascism’s new faces and new facelessness in the post-fascist epoch,’” Erwagen, Wissen, Ethik (Deliberation, Knowledge, Ethics) 15 (3) (April 2004), pp. 307-309.

The aforementioned article I wrote reappeared in the following book:

“A Critical Response to Roger Griffin’s ‘Fascism’s new faces" in Roger Griffin, Werner Loh, and Andreas Umland, (eds.), Fascism Past and Present, West and East (Ibidem-Verlag, 2006), pp. 85-92.

Here below is a link to the article and all other articles in the debate! A full 77 pages of text!

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/30279013/Dr-Tamir-Bar-On-“A-Critical-Response-to-Roger-Griffin’s-‘Fascism’s-new-faces-and-new-facelessness-in-the-post-fascist-epoch”

Tamir Bar-On

Full Text of My Second Academic Article on the Nouvelle Droite!

Here is the full text of my second academic article:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/29067549/The-Ambiguities-of-the-Nouvelle-Droite-1968-1999

Please let me know your thoughts on this piece, which got me working on the French nouvelle droite and European New Right for many years!

Tamir Bar-On