National Functionalism
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National Functionalism | |
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| File:NationalFunctionalistAxe.png | |
| Ideology | Cultural Nationalism Corporatism Militarism Syncretism Reactionary Modernism Totalitarianism Chauvinism |
| Political position | Far-Right |
National Functionalism is a far right, authoritarian, culturally nationalistic political ideology. It is loosely based on the sociological theory of functionalism and is characertised by traditional beliefs in a strong centralised state, a rejection of individualism, superiority based on cultural origins and that the state is a living organism of which individuals are merely constituent parts, commonly referred to as the communauté populaire.
National Functionalism arose in Gaullican militaristic political circles in the late 19th century; following the war of the Triple Alliance. Gaullica's defeat in the war, the removal of 'Gaullican' territories such as Kesselbourg and Hennehouwe and the fragmentation of its traditional allies in Soravia and Valduvia left the nation diplomatically isolated and with a strong revanchist sentiment.
Its tenants can be traced to Gaullican Field Marshal Gavorde de Trintignant, who wrote numerous political treatise demanding a rejection of 'modernity'; principally the constitutional amendments that had whittled the power of the Gaullican monarchy post the Age of Revolutions. In two political treatises, de Trintignant outlined his beliefs on the necessity of a strong central authority, a rejection of both capitalism and socialism, a strong sense of social cohesion underpinned by a civic national identity and the establishment of the means to spread this identity. Inspired by the growing field of sociology, de Trintignant viewed the state as a parallel to the human body - and health achieved when its parts were working in concert.
Whilst some scholars argue that National Functionalism as an ideology is specifically tailored to Gaullican political development, it is clear that it has influenced the development of political thought outside of Gaullica's borders. Some have argued that Shangea's National Principlism was directly inspired by National Functionalism, whilst in Euclea itself Functionalism entered southern Euclean countries like Etruria, Paretia, Piraea and Amathia through pro-Gaullican elements of the military. In Ruttland, Functionalism gave birth to the National Resurrection movement.
Since the end of the Great War, National Functionalism has been outlawed as a political ideology within Gaullica - though several groups have been accused of being "neo-functionalist". Since 2010, 'functionalist' has re-entered political discourse as a pejorative term for those on the far-right, especially in the context of Paretian and Etrurian nationalist groups like the Tribune Movement.
Etymology
History
Tenets
Civic nationalism, identity and race
Unlike most other Euclean political entities which developed nationalism as an ethnic identity, Gaullican political theorists were often critical of that concept. Traditionally, nationalism has been held to have been born by the Weranian Revolution of 1785, with Weranian radicals associating their ideas of radical republicanism with that of a unified Weranian ethnic identity.
In Gaullica, by contrast, the idea of ethnic nationalism was in principle rejected. Instead, a separate strain of nationalism grew there. Porthos Asselineau, writing in the early 1900s, compared the 'identities of the peoples of Euclea' and described of the Gaullican thought process that: "ethnic nationalism makes no sense, Gaullican identity is achievable. It is a civic identity, beyond the constraints of blood and ancestry."