HISTORY IS RUNNING BACKWARDS.

The article examines the global rise of reactionary traditionalism as a response to perceived spiritual emptiness and social fragmentation in modernity. It explores the intellectual foundations of traditionalism through thinkers like Oswald Spengler, René Guénon, and Julius Evola, who critique modern secular, individualistic, and materialistic culture as a phase of decline. Traditionalists emphasize rootedness in family, community, faith, and moral order as antidotes to the alienation and instability of contemporary life, offering a vision of society grounded in stable attachments, enchantment, and transcendent values. The article contrasts this with a progressive narrative of historical advancement in peace, equality, and human rights, while acknowledging the traditionalists’ critique of modernity’s failure to transmit enduring moral and cultural wisdom. It concludes that a renewed engagement with humanistic traditions could help bridge the divide between progress and the longing for meaning that fuels traditionalist movements. [Extracted from the article]