Ethnopluralism

Ethnopluralism is an ideology of the New Right, whose representatives a cultural " purity" of states and societies by " ethnic groups " seek. They do not define ethnic groups as in Biologism after their descent, but according to their belonging to a " culture " in order to be distinguished from "strangers". Influences of the considered as "foreign" companies are understood as a threat to their "own identity "; Stranger anxiety is considered as a natural reaction to it. Instead of historically contaminated by the Nazi genocide terminology such as " habitat " Ethnopluralisten speak of " ancestral territories of the nations."

The term is a Greek- Latin portmanteau for " international diversity", the Henning Eichberg brought in a debate in right-wing extremism in 1973. He meant to preserve his claim, a cultural diversity of "races" with its own right to exist.

Ideology

According to the social scientist Kurt Lenk, Stefan Borrmann hide behind the invoked " cultural identity " of different peoples social Darwinist views and a pronounced, but " modernized " racism, in which only the concept of race is deliberately avoided. The word "race" will, since nowadays mostly negative connotations, often replaced by " culture ", " ethnicity ", "people", "nation", or other terms. These arguments are also referred to as " racism without races" who gives the term "race" without the inherent devaluation and exclusion of others loses sharpness.

In contrast to the "classical" racism of ethnic pluralism postulates not necessarily the superiority of a people, the most representative yet the demand for a predominance of European peoples, the " West" or Western or Central Europe's rise in the world. In essence, each "people" have the same right and the same right to its national and cultural identity should be allowed, but only " in place ".

Since the migration is viewed as a threat to culture, representatives ethnopluralistischer concepts relate only to their disadvantages. Even in a globalized world is preferable to separate the peoples.

This can be understood as an intellectual upgrade the first time by the NPD in the federal election campaign 1980 ( " Ausländerstopp - Germany for the Germans " ) and tags later The Republicans used by Franz Schön Huber's party in the early 80s ( "Germany for the Germans, Turkey for the Turks "). Ultimately applies ethnopluralism as a reacted in a world scale ethnocentrism who wants to bring about a global system of apartheid and understands each Durchmengung as a threat to their own group.

Wilhelm Heitmeyer coined for these hostile attitudes towards people of different ethnic origin the term group -focused enmity.

Genesis

Historical roots can already be seen in Carl Schmitt, who ran out of a Pluriversum equal, in itself (relatively) homogeneous peoples. In the considerations of " intellectual-historical position of Parliamentary Democracy " Schmitt had argued in 1923, democracy belongs internal homogeneity and possibly the elimination of heterogeneity.

Term and concept of ethnic pluralism essentially go back to Henning Eichberg, who developed as one of the leaders of the New Right in both the 1970s as a " national revolutionary liberation philosophy."

One of the most famous thinkers of ethnic pluralism of legal intellectuals Alain de Benoist, the most important thinkers of the French Nouvelle Droite, in whose theory circle GRECE the concept of ethno- différencialisme has been since its inception. From de Benoist of ethnopluralism was justified, that " every nation, every culture has its own norms " have that " each culture a self-sufficient structure " forms and that each individual is determined primarily by its "cultural" and " ethnic " affiliation. Human Rights understands de Benoist as an expression of Western thought without universal validity. In Germany, the ethnopluralism example represented by Pierre cancer from the extreme right-wing " Thule - Seminar". After the federal election campaign of NPD from 1980 made ​​in 1982 the so-called Heidelberg Manifesto the next milestone in the public perception of the concept of ethnic pluralism. In this media-savvy call it was an appeal German university professors against " foreign infiltration ". In the July / August 1989 issue of the right-wing weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit has a special section " ethnic pluralism " was introduced in 1991, had survived until the December issue and it was renamed in 1992 in "nationality question ". The NPD invoked in a position paper published in 2002 on the ethnic pluralism.

The scientific foundation of the work of some behavioral scientists from the post-war period, such as Irenaeus Eibl- Eibesfeldt were consulted, who himself is working on the politicization of his ideas. The fear of "strangers" or xenophobia is therefore phylogenetically programmed by Eibl- Eibesfeldt, but also influenced by education:

" Obviously, the xenophobia is an important part of the human behavioral repertoire. It is available as an evolutionary adaptation, but can be strongly modulated by education. [ ... ] Mothers use this fear sometimes to frighten disobedient children with the possibility of a stranger would take it. The reaffirms, inter alia, the stranger fear. However, it develops first of all regardless of educational impact due to a predetermined program. "

Representatives of ethnic pluralism rely Besides the strong cultural reasoning, among other things due to genetic differences between the peoples of what is usually considered and rejected by the sociology as biologistically.

Reception

The concept of ethnic pluralism enables not only legitimizing function for the separation of "races ", " peoples " and "cultures" another decisive step in the right-wing theory. If there really should be different equivalent cultures within the meaning of this theorem, then the associated moral and legal ideas would be considered separately. The human rights would no longer be universal, but developed by a minority construct that is forced upon others.

Critics of the theorem say that the definition of a people is difficult. So it can not be spoken of an identity of a people. Also, critics of ethnic pluralism in particular the representatives of cultural studies suggest that cultures in the past further developed among others by sharing with other cultures. Thus, for example, Greek philosophy had the fastest developed in the coastal regions, which had been there most of the exchange with other cultures.

In connection with ethnopluralism referring to the former policy of apartheid in South Africa with their home country or the historical racial segregation in the southern United States ( separate but equal ) again and again. So Gero Fischer wrote in 1998: " ethnopluralism thought leads consistently to apartheid as a new world order." Michael Minkenberg wrote: " the ethnic pluralism is only seemingly pluralistic and liberal. Globally, it calls for segregation of ethnic groups based on geographic region, a global apartheid ".