For a Positive Critique

by Dominique Venner

Before becoming disillusioned with political militancy and retiring to a quiet rural life where he wrote the majority of his historical and metapolitical texts, Dominique Venner was heavily involved in the fight for French Algeria, both during and after the war. While serving a prison term for his involvement with the dissident paramilitary group, the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), he sought to write a text that would synthesize the vast domain of right-wing thought into a coherent political doctrine, a right-wing manifesto in the same vein as Vladmir Lenin's What is to be Done?

For a Positive Critique is the fruit of that labor, and it sowed the seeds for his future metapolitical endeavors with Europe-Action, GRECE, and ILIADE.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Award-winning French historian, journalist and writer.

Venner was a member of the Organisation de l'armée secrète and later became a European nationalist before withdrawing from politics to focus on a career as a historian. He specialized in military and political history. At the time of his death, he was the editor of the La Nouvelle Revue d'Histoire, a bimonthly history magazine. On 21 May 2013, Venner committed suicide inside the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris.

Reviews

[risko.tainas]

Fascinating take on the many pitfalls and mistakes of right-wing revolutionary thinking penned by a man who had skin in the game. It's a good "back to the basics" overview of the sort of doctrine the right wing will have to adopt in order to bring about a revolution. Macro-level advice, not specific details about political policies and tactical moves.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, he addresses the need for political movements to depart from the leader/cult of personality focus and concentrate on the national will. Emphasis on quality militants over band wagon revolutionaries is also commented on.

[Adam Voight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that really boils down the process of being a revolutionary to a few pages with no fluff. I now feel much more confident about making revolutionary choices. He's very good on how important it is for most of us to work within the system in the current stage of our struggle.

It also got me interested in the struggle for French Algeria.

[Husham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historical document, young political activists should definitely read it, but unfortunately the writing style is horrible.

[Michael Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This manifesto constructively criticizes nationalist movements in order to make them better, much like Horace Bushnell criticizes the anti-slavery societies in order to make them better. Veneer agrees with the end goal of the nationalists, but he dislikes the means many have taken. He gives a level-headed approach of how to actually win, and that is mainly done through actually gaining influence, rather than alienating people through stupid things like terrorism. He warns about mythomania, essentially people who LARP as things they are not, like making 10 followers out of high school and letting that get to your head. He says that the nationalists ought to want militants, not merely followers, since merely followers don’t actually do anything other than voice support, whereas militants actually help in the action of pushing nationalism. Militants are not necessarily violent, in fact he warns against using violence, but they are people who are actually active in the movement. He rightfully points out that hyper-focusing on particular policies is stupid, because that only addresses the symptoms, not the root causes, which is what we actually have to come after. He makes a good point about adaptability, in that we have to learn to adapt when one method is failing over another, that we have to change accordingly with the given situation. I like the distinction he shows between popular power and the large power; King Louis XVI is an example of the popular power, and the Jacobins the large power. The popular power represents the interests of the common population, and the large power represents their own interests. “Negritude” is a cool new word I learned from this. He is writing in the historical context of the French having lost their hold in Algeria, but the principles generally apply to nationalists everywhere. He makes a good point about the protesters in the 50s in France who despite having all sorts of material luxury, were unsatisfied because their spiritual needs were not being met, and this is what Karl Marx misses in his naive materialism. Ergo, the nationalists have to address spiritual concerns, not only material concerns. He argues that we have to make nationalist bases at the local level, and I couldn’t agree more, and we have to do that with diligence and patience.

[Alberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lettura imprescindibile per il militante identitario.

[Aleksandar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Lesson in Metapolitics

I've had this book in my library for a number of years, but for some reasons I never got to reading it entirely. I've read other pieces by Venner and had even started the book once but somehow I never completed it. Whereas I have admired Venner both for his thoughts and his actions, I have never really appreciated his full worth. I finally had some time to read and while going through my shelves to find what to read, I came across this book and decided that the day has come to complete the book. And was I not disappointed!

The book, is actually a pamphlet around 60 pages long outlining a, what can easily be called "metapolitics of the right", with the purpose of "educating partisans with sound doctrine that explains the causes of Western decadence, proposes a solution and serves as a guidepost for thought and action". And what was intended to serve as a counteract to Lenin's What is to be Done? - for the nationalist revolutionary of the post-1960s Europeans, is actually quite relevant to this day, especially since mainstream nationalists like in the 60s focus "on the symptoms" and do not "attack the core of the regime itself".

The revolution, which Venner talks about is not about seizure of power, but "it is the use of power to construct a new society" against an "all-powerful, cunning and experienced enemy which must be fought with ideas and with cunning before it can be fought with force". This is essentially Metapolitics 1.0. And the enemy is Materialism in its Marxist and liberal forms. The remedy is a sound doctrine of Nationalism "founded on a heroic conception of life...is a return to the source of popular community" and "intends to create new social relationships based on community and...a political order based on the hierarchy of merit and value", which is "European in its conceptions and perspectives" and "brings a universal solution to the problems facing mankind as a result of the technical revolution". According to Venner, European civilization is unique as it synthetizes spiritual aspirations and material necessities and as such balances out the upheavals caused by the technical revolution and is the foundation of "virile humanism". And it is not technology or scholars who will decide the fate of humanity, but rather a "vocational political elite, endowed with an iron will that serves a historical mission". This political elite will of course, also be European and will discover the meaning of life based on a European ethos of honor which is the enemy of the slave morality of liberal and Marxist materialism. The future of European nations, depends on unity, firstly a political one which will create a single collective state in an evolutionary form, followed by military and economic steps. Thus, Venner concludes "a Young Europe founded on the same civilization, the same space, and the same destiny will serve as the active center of the West and of the world order."

Such immense thought is contained within such a small book that the review itself can be longer than the book. Going through my notes, I realized that it's not possible to separate the "meaningful" from the "rest". I, therefore, wholeheartedly recommend this book, especially to young people on the Right, as it can serve as a foundational text and a basis for ideological crystallization. The second part of the book, which is more practical and is about how to implement the ideas into practice (namely through a positive critique), though limited due to contextual differences (the book was after all, written in the 60s) can also provide insights into how metapolitics can inform practical policy. In this sense, this book will remain relevant in the canon of right-wing thought in the future to come.

[Angstreichian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will preface this with a disclaimer on my lack of familiarity with French politics and my view of this text as incidental and purely academic interest l.

Venner falls for conspiratorial aspects, he points to abstract ideas such as the financial elite, without backing up those claims. Additionally, there are some bizarre psychological claims made about those he seems to be in the democratic system. The rhetorical critique is reasonable however and critiques are succinctly identified, I just don't see the solution he proposes as addressing those critiques.


Also of note is the discussion of nationalist "bases", I hear this concept constantly in this sort of literature and I think I must misunderstand it's significance or why it appears so replicated.

[Desmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

An outline for Nationalist ideology and organization. Not a bad read, just not really in a mood for this type of literature at the moment. Interesting and easy to read, though.

Up until this year I had been more interested in reading about medieval France instead of reading works by French writers. I have been convinced that I do have a genuine interest in French writing now. That includes works by Venner, Camus, Manchette, Maupaussant, and others whose works have found their way into my library.