Below is a detailed list of the major types of conservative, right-wing, or reactionary thought, broken down into ideological categories, with key ideas and thinkers associated with each. These categories range from mainstream conservatism to far-right and counter-revolutionary traditions.
🔹 1. Traditional Conservatism
Focus: Order, hierarchy, custom, religion, social cohesion.
Origins: Reaction to the French Revolution (e.g., Edmund Burke).
Key Values: Organic society, continuity, skepticism toward progress.
Thinkers: Edmund Burke, Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot.
🔹 2. Classical Liberalism / Libertarian Conservatism
Focus: Individual liberty, free markets, minimal state.
Overlap: Economically right-wing, socially varies.
Subtypes:
Minarchism (minimal government)
Anarcho-capitalism
Thinkers: John Locke, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard.
🔹 3. Neoconservatism
Focus: Strong national defense, promotion of democracy abroad, moral clarity.
Roots: Former liberals (often Jewish intellectuals) who moved right in response to the 1960s and Cold War.
Thinkers: Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Paul Wolfowitz, Robert Kagan.
🔹 4. Paleoconservatism
Focus: Nationalism, anti-globalism, cultural preservation, non-interventionism.
Opposes: Neoconservatism and liberal multiculturalism.
Thinkers: Patrick Buchanan, Paul Gottfried, Samuel Francis, Chronicles Magazine.
🔹 5. Religious Conservatism / Christian Right
Focus: Moral order rooted in religion, especially Christianity.
Issues: Abortion, marriage, school prayer, moral decay.
Variants: Evangelical, Catholic integralist, Orthodox.
Movements: Moral Majority, Focus on the Family.
🔹 6. National Conservatism / Postliberal Conservatism
Focus: National identity, industrial policy, social cohesion.
Opposes: Globalism, libertarian economics, progressive moral liberalism.
Thinkers & Figures: Yoram Hazony, Josh Hawley, Sohrab Ahmari, Compact Magazine.
🔹 7. Authoritarian Conservatism
Focus: Strong state, obedience, national unity.
Examples: Francoist Spain, Salazar’s Portugal.
Often blends: Religion, corporatism, nationalism.
🔹 8. Reactionary Thought (Counter-Enlightenment)
Focus: Restoration of monarchy, aristocracy, or pre-modern traditions.
Views Enlightenment as the source of social decay.
Thinkers: Joseph de Maistre, Donoso Cortés, Julius Evola (more mystical/occult), Nicolás Gómez Dávila.
🔹 9. Right-Wing Populism
Focus: The "people" vs. elites, anti-immigration, anti-globalism.
Style: Charismatic leaders, media-savvy.
Examples: Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage, Viktor Orbán.
🔹 10. Integralism (Catholic or Theocratic Right)
Focus: Church above state, moral law over liberal pluralism.
Influence: Thomism, anti-modernism.
Thinkers: Thomas Aquinas (as interpreted), Adrian Vermeule (modern), Marcel Lefebvre.
🔹 11. Fascism / Ultranationalism (Radical Right)
Focus: Ethnic nationalism, authoritarianism, corporatism, anti-liberalism.
Examples: Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, modern ultranationalist movements.
Variants: Neo-fascism, Third Positionism.
Thinkers: Giovanni Gentile, Carl Schmitt (adapted), Julius Evola (spiritual fascism).
🔹 12. Identitarianism / Ethno-Nationalism
Focus: Preservation of racial, ethnic, or civilizational identity.
Slogan: “You will not replace us” (Great Replacement theory).
Movements: European Identitarian Movement, Alt-Right, VDARE, American Renaissance.
🔹 13. Technocratic or Managerial Right
Focus: Rule by experts, order, efficiency.
Modern Form: Silicon Valley neoreaction (NRx).
Thinkers: Curtis Yarvin (a.k.a. Mencius Moldbug), James Burnham (early inspiration).
Belief: Democracy is a flawed system; society should be run like a corporation.
🔹 14. Corporate or Chamber of Commerce Conservatism
Focus: Low taxes, deregulation, economic growth.
Weak on: Cultural issues.
Supporters: Business elites, some GOP factions.
Criticism from: Populists and postliberals.
🔹 15. Neoreaction (NRx) / Dark Enlightenment
Focus: Anti-democracy, return to hierarchy, tech-authoritarianism.
Beliefs: Democracy is a failure; advocate for "patchwork" of sovereign corporate states.
Figures: Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land (philosopher of accelerationism).
🔹 16. Monarchism and Royalism
Focus: Return of kingship or hereditary rule.
Types: Absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, divine right theories.
Modern Examples: Carlists (Spain), French royalists, academic monarchists.
Here’s a visual map showing the relationships and historical influences between different types of conservative, right-wing, and reactionary thought:
Arrows represent ideological influence or evolution.
For example:
Traditional Conservatism influenced Paleoconservatism and the Religious Right.
Reactionary Thought fed into both Monarchism and Fascism.
Technocratic Right leads into Neoreaction (NRx), which also draws from Paleoconservatism and Libertarianism.
Now, here is a visual overview of the major branches and ideological relationships within liberal, progressive, and left-wing thought:
🧠 Key Interpretations:
Classical Liberalism is the foundation of both Social Liberalism (e.g., welfare state) and Progressivism (e.g., reformist social justice).
Marxism leads to multiple offshoots:
Communism (authoritarian/centralized)
Democratic Socialism (electoral/participatory)
Critical Theory (Frankfurt School → Postmodern Left)
Anarchism evolves into:
Anarcha-communism
Libertarian Socialism
Democratic Confederalism (inspired by Bookchin, adopted by Kurdish movements)
Intersectional Feminism emerges from Postmodern Left and Progressivism, blending identity, race, and gender critiques.
Eco-Socialism links ecological and anti-capitalist traditions.
Liberal Tendencies
1. Classical Liberalism
Focus: Individual rights, limited government, free markets, rule of law.
Origin: 17th–19th century (Locke, Smith, Mill).
Belief: Liberty is best preserved through minimal state interference and private property.
Modern Legacy: Influences both libertarianism and liberal democracy.
2. Social Liberalism
Focus: Expanding rights and social welfare within capitalist democracies.
Key Ideas: Education, health care, anti-poverty programs, regulated capitalism.
Thinkers: John Stuart Mill (late), T.H. Green, John Dewey.
Modern Examples: New Deal (USA), welfare state (Europe), Canadian Liberal Party.
3. Progressivism
Focus: Reforming society to correct injustices and inequalities (racial, gender, economic).
Origins: U.S. Progressive Era (early 1900s); revived in late 20th century.
Modern Focus: Criminal justice reform, anti-racism, climate action, inclusion.
Examples: Bernie Sanders, AOC, Elizabeth Warren; movements like Black Lives Matter.
🔹 Social Democratic and Socialist Tendencies
4. Social Democracy
Focus: Mixed economy with robust social safety nets and labor protections.
Belief: Capitalism should be managed and humanized, not abolished.
Thinkers: Eduard Bernstein, Scandinavian reformers.
Examples: Sweden, Norway, Germany’s SPD, UK Labour under Attlee.
5. Democratic Socialism
Focus: Democratic control of the economy alongside political democracy.
Goal: Gradual or electoral transition to socialism, worker control of major industries.
Thinkers: Michael Harrington, Rosa Luxemburg, Bhaskar Sunkara.
Organizations: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.
🔹 Marxist and Communist Tendencies
6. Marxism
Focus: Class struggle, critique of capitalism, historical materialism.
Key Concepts: Surplus value, alienation, revolution.
Founders: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Legacy: Influenced dozens of global revolutions, labor movements, and critiques of capitalism.
7. Communism
Focus: Abolition of private property, classless society, central planning.
Often Associated With: Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism.
Historical Examples: USSR, PRC (under Mao), Cuba.
Criticisms: Authoritarianism, repression of dissent, centralization of power.
🔹 Anarchist and Libertarian Left Tendencies
8. Anarchism
Focus: Stateless societies, voluntary cooperation, anti-authoritarianism.
Variants: Anarcho-syndicalism, mutualism, egoist anarchism.
Thinkers: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Mikhail Bakunin, Emma Goldman.
9. Anarcha-communism
Focus: Stateless, classless society without hierarchy or money.
Practices: Horizontal governance, communal ownership, direct action.
Thinkers: Kropotkin, Durruti, Bookchin (early).
Historical Moment: Spanish Civil War (CNT-FAI).
10. Libertarian Socialism
Focus: Anti-state, anti-capitalist; promotes decentralized, direct democracy.
Variants: Council communism, communalism, democratic syndicalism.
Influences: Marx, Bakunin, Bookchin.
Goal: Workers and communities self-managing their own affairs.
11. Democratic Confederalism
Focus: Grassroots democracy, feminism, and ecology—especially in stateless societies.
Promoted By: Abdullah Öcalan (inspired by Bookchin).
Practiced In: Rojava (autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria).
Core Principles: Self-governance, pluralism, gender equality, ecology.
🔹 Critical, Postmodern, and Cultural Left
12. Critical Theory
Focus: Critique of capitalist society, culture, ideology, and modern rationality.
Origins: Frankfurt School (Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse).
Later Influence: Media studies, cultural studies, critiques of consumerism.
13. Postmodern Left
Focus: Deconstruction of grand narratives (e.g., progress, class), power and language.
Key Concerns: Identity, discourse, relativism.
Thinkers: Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Judith Butler (bridge to feminism).
Criticisms: Seen by some leftists as overly academic or detached from material struggle.
14. Intersectional Feminism
Focus: How race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability intersect to shape oppression.
Founded By: Kimberlé Crenshaw (coined the term “intersectionality”).
Agenda: Inclusive feminism, institutional reform, justice for marginalized identities.
Movements: MeToo, Black feminist thought, queer theory, disability justice.
15. Eco-Socialism
Focus: Combines ecological sustainability with anti-capitalist principles.
Critiques: Capitalism’s need for endless growth and ecological degradation.
Proposes: Public ownership of energy and transport, degrowth, just transition.
Thinkers: André Gorz, Joel Kovel, Naomi Klein (activist orientation).
