The Political Right and Equality

by Matthew McManus

McManus presents an intellectual history of the conservative and reactionary tradition, stretching from Aristotle and Confucius to Ayn Rand and Patrick Deneen. Providing a comprehensive critical genealogy of the intellectual political right, McManus traces its core to a nostalgia for the hierarchical cosmos of antiquarian and scholastic thinking. The yearning for a shared vision of the universe where each part of reality has its place maps onto the conservative admiration for orderly political and social stratification. It stamps even the more moderate forms of liberal conservatism which emerged in the aftermath of the revolutionary 18th century, as the political right struggled to accept and later master first the politics of liberal capitalism and later universal suffrage. In its most radical forms this nostalgia for an orderly and hierarchical existence can harden into a resentment at the perceived shallowness of liberal modernity. McManus argues for those who support the project of modernity to commit themselves to better understanding the depth of the political right’s critiques, many of which expose uncomfortable but solvable problems with the quest for equality and freedom. A critical guide to the history of conservative and reactionary thought for students and scholars of political science and political history.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, History

290 pages, Paperback

Published July 21, 2023

Reviews

[Lukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview to understand the BS conservative schools of thought and how keeping true equality from emerging is the right's bread-and-butter and their core motivation for all that they do.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review of right wing thought from Burke and his ilk forward that is nicely comprhensive in its review of serious thinkers and writers (although I would have liked to have seen how non-scholars like Limbaugh and Yarvin have effected thinking on the right), and is an excellent primer for anyone interested in right wing thought.

There were a few parts where the author's attempts at humor fell flat in what is otherwise a very scholarly work, and--even more annoyingly--the book has a surprising number of typos and other editing errors, a likely symptom of Routledge not applying enough editorial resources to the role (or the author making changes post-edit and introducing more errors, something to which I am myself prone).

[Blaine Riesberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice survey into the different schools and thinkers of the Right, be it Eliot, Dostoevsky, Burke to names I've never heard of like Oakeshott or de Maistre, and, to the most formidable of the lot, Nietzsche who I did a deep dive of in February. Maps their conciliations, utter defeats, successes, their wants, desires, and visions of the past and projections for the future. Don't let the cover fool you. If the author needs someone to proof read hit me up.