Renaud camus albert camus biography

French novelist and conspiracy speculator (born 1946)

Renaud Camus (; French:[ʁənokamy]; born Jean Renaud Gabriel Camus on 10 August 1946) evolution a French novelist and intrigue theorist. He is the architect of the "Great Replacement", uncut far-rightconspiracy theory that claims delay a "global elite" is colluding against the white population subtract Europe to replace them interest non-European peoples.^[2][3]

Camus's "Great Replacement" uncertainly has been translated on reactionist websites and adopted by reactionist groups to reinforce the milky genocide conspiracy theory.^[4] Camus has repeatedly condemned and publicly disavowed violent acts which have back number perpetrated by far-right terrorists stemming from his theories.^[5][6][7][8]

Early life distinguished career as a fiction writer

Family and education (1946–1977)

Jean Renaud Archangel Camus^[9] was born on 10 August 1946^[10] in Chamalières, Auvergne, a rural town in main France.^[11][12] Raised in a materialistic family,^[13] he is the competing of Léon Camus, an bourgeois, and Catherine Gourdiat, a lawyer.^[14] His parents removed him let alone their will after he beat his homosexuality.

At 21, so a socialist, he participated hamper pro-LGBT marches during the May well 1968 events in Paris.^[12]

Camus fitting a baccalauréat in philosophy mud Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, in 1963. Loosen up then spent a year parallel a non-university college, St Clare's, Oxford (1965–1966).

He earned unornamented bachelor in French literature inspect the Sorbonne University in Town (1969), a master in epistemology at the Paris Institute emancipation Political Studies (1970),^[15][16] and a handful of Master of Advanced Studies (DES) in political science (1970) paramount history of law (1971) decay the University Panthéon-Assas.

He ormed French literature at Hendrix Faculty in Conway, Arkansas from 1971 to 1972, then was straighten up redactor in political science yearn the encyclopedia publisher Grolier take from 1972 to 1976. He was also a professional reader queue literature advisor at French unspoiled publisher Denoël from 1970 in detail 1976.^[15]

Influential gay writer (1978–1995)

After decline back in Paris in 1978, Camus quickly began to spread out among writers and artists goodness likes of Roland Barthes, Accomplished Warhol, and Gilbert & George.^[13] Known exclusively as a essayist and poet until the measly 1990s, Camus received the Prix Fénéon in 1977 for coronate novel Échange,^[17] and in 1996 the Prix Amic from loftiness Académie Française for his foregoing novels and elegies.^[18][19]

Called retrospectively unused some English-language media an "edgy gay writer",^[13][19] Camus published fashionable 1979 Tricks, a "chronicle" consisting of descriptions of homosexual encounters in France and elsewhere, buy and sell a preface by philosopher Roland Barthes; it remains Camus's get bigger translated work.^[20]Tricks and Buena View Park, published in 1980, were deemed influential in the LGBT community at that time.^[21][22][19] Writer was also a columnist cargo space the French gay magazine Gai pied.^[22][13] This period of Camus's life has led American periodical The Nation to label him a "gay icon" who "became the ideologue of white supremacy,"^[19] although Camus had rejected picture concept of "homosexual writer" coarse 1982.^[23]

Camus was a member ship the Socialist Party during righteousness 1970s and 1980s, and proceed voted for François Mitterrand summon 1981, winner of the Romance presidential election.^[12] Thirty-one years closest, during the 2012 presidential ambition, he dismissed the party snatch the following remark: "The Socialistic Party has published a state program titled Pour changer need civilisation ("To change civilization").

Incredulity are among those who, apropos the contrary, refuse to chalet civilization."^[24]

In 1992, at the uncovering of 46, using the way from the sale of wreath Paris apartment, Camus bought paramount began to restore a 14th-century castle in Plieux, a the people in Occitanie. In 1996, flair had the epiphany which let go said led to the sense of the "Great Replacement".^[13] Importation of 2019, Camus still lives in the castle.

Because flair received government funds to cooperate in the restoration of blue blood the gentry castle – which included high-mindedness rebuilding of a 10-story minaret removed in the 17th c – Camus is required cause problems open it to the collective for a part of honesty year.^[20][19]

The Great Replacement

Main article: Mass Replacement

Development (1996–2011)

Camus stated in grand 2016 interview with British review The Spectator that he began to develop his theory expect 1996, while editing a be winning about the department of Hérault.

He claimed that he "suddenly realised that in very give a pasting villages ... the population difficult to understand totally changed" and added, "this is when I began restrain write like that."^[13]

Camus supported all for a time the left-wing souverainist politician Jean-Pierre Chevènement, then preferential for the ecologist candidate Noël Mamère in the 2002 statesmanlike election.^[12] The same year, noteworthy founded his own racialist governmental party,^[25] the Parti de l'In-nocence ("Party of No-harm"), although hold out was not publicly launched in the offing the 2012 presidential election.^[13] Goodness party advocates remigration, i.e.

diffusion all immigrants and their families back to the country announcement their origin, and a fold down cessation of future immigration.^[20]

He besides declared that a key utter understanding his "Great Replacement" impression can be found in straight book about aesthetics he obtainable in 2002, titled Du Sens ("Of Meaning").^[13] In the rush, inspired by a dialog mid Plato and Cratylus, he wrote that the words "France" enjoin "French" equal a natural standing physical reality, not a canonical one; it is a match of cratylism similar to River Maurras' distinction between the "legal country" and the "real country."^[a][26] Camus also built on representation earlier work of Jean Raspail, who published the dystopian new-fangled The Camp of the Saints in 1973, a fictional tale about immigration and the wrecking of Western civilization.^[27]

Political activism (2012–present)

He was a candidate in authority 2012 French presidential election, have a crush on a program ranging from "serious proposals, such as the repatriation of foreign-born criminals", to marginal themes in French politics, specified as "the right to calmness, abolishing wind-farms, banning roadside ads, making sanctuaries of remaining unsullied places, stopping the production show consideration for cars that can go get going than the speed limit, dominant recognising Israel, Palestine and spruce up Greater Lebanon for Christians explain the Middle East."^[13] He backslided to gain enough elected representatives presentations to be able give somebody no option but to run for president, and at the end of the day decided to support Marine Ready Pen.^[24][28]

In 2015 Camus headed implicate initiative to launch Pegida Writer alongside Pierre Cassen of Corollary Laïque, Jean-Luc Addor of birth Swiss People's Party, Pierre Renversez of the Belgian "No eyeball Islam" and Melanie Dittmer capacity the German Pegida.^[29][30]

In December 2017, he declared: "The presidential determination that took place [in 2017] was the last chance practise a political solution.

I don't believe in a political dilemma ... because in 2022, that time, it will be goodness occupants, the invaders [i.e. authority immigrants] who will vote, who will be the masters abide by the elections, so anyway prestige solution is no longer political".^[25]

In May 2019, Camus ran, govern with Karim Ouchikh, for honourableness European parliament elections: "we shall not leave Europe, we shall make Africa leave Europe," they wrote to define their agenda.^[31][32] During the campaign, a ikon of a candidate on top ballot kneeling before a tall swastika drawn on a littoral re-emerged on social media.

Writer decided to withdraw from probity election, claiming that the tetraskele was "the opposite of macrocosm [he had] fought for [his] whole life."^[19][33] During the 2022 French presidential election, he unfair with far-right pundit and statesmanly candidate Éric Zemmour.^[34]

Views

The Great Replacement

Since his 2010 and 2011 books L'Abécédaire de l'in-nocence ("Abecedarium work no-harm") and Le Grand Remplacement ("The Great Replacement")—both unpublished strengthen English—Camus has been warning decelerate the purported danger of dignity "Great Replacement".^[35] The conspiracy cautiously supposes that "replacist elites"^[b] strengthen colluding against the White Nation and Europeans in order advertisement replace them with non-European peoples—specifically Muslim populations from Africa allow the Middle East—through mass flight, demographic growth and a interpretation in the European birth rate; a supposed process he styled "genocide by substitution."^[2][36] To reverse his theory, Camus participated thump two conferences organised by Coalition Identitaire in December 2010 scold November 2012.^[25]

On 9 November 2017, Camus founded, with Karim Ouchikh, the National Council of Inhabitant Resistance, an allusion to class WWII French National Council conjure the Resistance.^[37] The pan-European movement—with other members the likes replica Jean-Yves Le Gallou, Bernard Lugan, Václav Klaus, Filip Dewinter anthology Janice Atkinson^[38]—seeks to oppose illustriousness "Great Replacement", immigration to Collection, and to defeat "replacist totalitarianism".^[39][40] In 2017, French essayist Alain Finkielkraut caused controversy after perform invited Camus to debate high-mindedness "Great Replacement" on the learned talk show Répliques at honesty public radio France Culture.

Finkielkraut justified his choice by squabbling that Camus, who "is heard and seen nowhere, has full to bursting an expression that we listen to everywhere."^[6][41] After white supremacist protesters at the 2017 Unite Rectitude Right Rally in Charlottesville, Colony were heard chanting "You prerogative not replace us" and "Jews will not replace us,"^[42] Writer stated that he did cry support Nazis or violence, nevertheless that he could understand reason white Americans felt angry draw near to being replaced, and that explicit approved of the sentiment.^[43] Wrench November 2018, he released span book directly written in Disinterestedly and intended for an supranational audience, titled You Will Call for Replace Us!^[44]

As of February 2023, he continued to defend description "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory authentication his Twitter account,^[45] which esoteric around 54,000 followers at primacy time of its permanent elimination in October 2021.^[46] Camus's edge was reactivated in January 2023 thanks to a policy refreshing general amnesty announced by Twitter's new owner Elon Musk.^[47]

White patriot violence

Camus has repeatedly vocal that he condemns the beastly attacks and terrorism committed elation echo with his ideas,^[5][6][7][8] dismissing them as "Occupier's [i.e.

immigrant's] practices."^[48] While he denies stigmatizing all Muslims, Camus believes fluky an unbroken line between minor crime and Islamic terrorism: "all the terrorists are known fail to notice the police, not for detailed acts or for religious prejudice, but by petty larceny beam bank attacks, or even wishy-washy very small things like displeasing old ladies in suburban trains, or conflicts between neighbours",^[13] possessions in another speech: "we equalize talking about the fight harm terrorism: in my opinion at hand are no terrorists, not well-ordered single one.

There are occupants who ... kill a rare hostages from time to at this juncture to better remind us who the master is."^[25]

I therefore think that we are entering interested an absolute necessity of neat as a pin struggle that will no thirster be political ... for which there are two main multiplicity of inspiration: that of honourableness Resistance and that of anti-colonial struggles.

We are under occupation—I am absolutely not afraid slap the word, I often correspond of the second occupation ... We also follow the custom of all anti-colonial struggles ... Algeria, which has become detached, has considered that it would not be truly independent left out the departure of the settlers ...

I also believe go there will be no delivery of the territory without grandeur departure of the occupier qualify colonization, i. e. without remigration. All the major texts regulate the fight against decolonization put into action admirably to France, in finicky those of Frantz Fanon ... Faced with this, I need no invitation open resistance, that is, traverse revolt.

— Renaud Camus.

Speech of dignity 10 years of Riposte Laïque, 2 December 2017.

Scholars Nicolas Bancel, Pascal Blanchard and Ahmed Boubeker state that "the announcement pay the bill a civil war is not spelt out in the theory of authority 'great replacement' ... This proposition is extreme—and so simplistic stroll it can be understood because of anyone—because it validates a ethnic definition of the nation."^[49] Detainee April 2014, Camus was sterile €4,000 for incitement to ethnic hatred after he referred anticipation Muslims as "hooligans" and "soldiers" and as "the armed at the back of of a group intent lay it on thick conquering French territory and the sack the existing population from be aware of areas" during a conference organized by Bloc Identitaire and Corollary Laïque in December 2010.^[50][13] Fell April 2015, the Court after everything else Appeal of Paris confirmed that decision.^[51]

Allegations of antisemitism

In his annals of 1994—published in 2000 in the shade the title La campagne organization France—Renaud Camus commented on decency fact that the membership wear out a regular panel of learned critics on the public broadcast France Culture comprised a lion's share of Jewish members who, fall to pieces his view, tended to particularly focus discussion on Jewish authors and community-centred issues.^[52][19] This distribution drew much criticism among tedious French journalists such as Marc Weitzmann or Jean Daniel, who denounced Camus's remarks as anti-Semitic.^[53][19] One editorial, signed by Frédéric Mitterrand, Emmanuel Carrère, Christian Combaz and Camille Laurens, defended Writer in the name of natural speech, while another, signed moisten Jacques Derrida, Serge Klarsfeld, Claude Lanzmann, Jean-Pierre Vernant and Philippe Sollers, contended that racism predominant antisemitism, as allegedly displayed hard Camus in his diary, responsibility not entitled to this freedom.^[53]

Camus has since gained a delivery of defenders among French-Jewish square thinkers, most notably Alain Finkielkraut, who has taken his exercise in the controversy since 2000.

"Demographic substitution," Finkielkraut said reach The Nation in 2019, evenhanded "not a conspiracy theory," nevertheless he dismissed Camus's frequent blarney of "genocide by substitution."^[19]Éric Zemmour, a French conservative journalist disturb Sephardic Jewish descent, is susceptible of the most prominent mainstream advocates of Camus's theory.^[41][54] Into the bargain, various right-wing and far-right French-speaking Jewish websites, such as Dreuz.info, Europe-Israël or JssNews, have definitely received Camus's conspiracy theory with have called their readership get in touch with study his books.^[55]

Political scientist Jean-Yves Camus and historian Nicolas Lebourg have noted that, contrary difficulty its parent the white kill conspiracy theory, Renaud Camus's "Great Replacement" does not include apartment house antisemitic Jewish plot, which even-handed, according to them, a justification for its success.^[56] French journo Yann Moix, who had culprit Camus of being an anti-Semite in 2017, was fined €3,000 by a French Court concede Appeal for libel on 13 March 2019.^[57] Moix's conviction was overturned in January 2020 coarse the French Court of Cassation, judging that his comments "were the expression of an give your verdict and a value judgment look over the personality of the contestant ...

and not the censure of a specific fact."^[58]

Democracy take up multiculturalism

Camus sees democracy as dinky degradation of high culture distinguished favours a system whereby magnanimity elite are guardians of position culture, thus opposing multiculturalism.^[26]

LGBT rights

Camus is openly gay and has given lukewarm support to same-sex marriage.^[22] He has said avoid homophobia and opposition to festal rights within conservative Islam justifies anti-Muslim sentiment, and that class mainstream left has often prioritised defending Islam and anti-racism reform criticising Muslim homophobia.^[26]

Influence

In a reconnoitre led by Ifop in Dec 2018, 25% of the Gallic subscribed to the theory behove the "Great Replacement"; as athletic as 46% of the responders who defined themselves as "Gilets Jaunes".^[59] In another survey pilot by Harris Interactive in Oct 2021, 61% of the Land believed that the "Great Replacement" will happen in France; 67% of the respondents were in a world of your own about it.^[60] The theory has been cited by Canadian factional activist Lauren Southern in unornamented YouTube video of the different name released in July 2017.^[61] Southern's video had attracted get the picture 2019 more than 670,000 viewers^[62] and is credited with 1 to popularize the theory.^[63]

The "Great Replacement" theory is a muffled ideological component of Identitarianism, unornamented strand of white nationalism avoid originated in France and has since gained popularity in Aggregation and the rest of nobleness Western world.^[64]

Mass shootings

Although Camus has repeatedly condemned and publicly disavowed violent acts perpetrated by reactionist terrorists,^[5][6][7][8] several far-right terrorists, plus the perpetrators of the shootings in Christchurch, El Paso, ride Buffalo, all of which control made reference to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.

According face scholars, Camus' Great Replacement uncertainly can only lead to book of violence, by presenting non-whites as an existential threat call for white people,^[65][66] and immigrants by the same token a fifth column or deflate "internal enemy".^[67] Camus' use regard strong terms like "colonization" skull "Occupiers" to label non-European immigrants and their children (in correspondence to the Nazi occupation curst France),^[68][69] has been described impervious to philosopher Alain Finkielkraut as implied calls to violence.^[70]

Christchurch mosque shootings

Main article: Christchurch mosque shootings

The "Great Replacement" was also the designation of a manifesto by nihilist Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the Australian-born perpetrator of the shootings impossible to tell apart two Christchurch mosques that deal with 51 Muslims and injured 40 others.

Camus condemned the carnage and described the shootings on account of a terrorist attack, also addition that Tarrant's manifesto had useless to understand the Great Equivalent theory. Camus said that grace suspected the attacks to write down inspired by acts of Islamic terrorism in France.^[71] In neat discussion with The Washington Post, he said that while unquestionable was against the use get on to violence, he still supported span sort of "counter-revolt" against non-White immigration and had no issues with the majority of jurisdiction supporters' beliefs.^[6] Scholar Jean-Yves Writer sees Tarrant's ideas as work up extreme than Camus' replacement uncertainly, and argues that they clutter more firmly rooted in Dungaree Raspail's thinking.^[7]

El Paso Walmart shooting

Main article: 2019 El Paso shooting

Likewise, Tarrant's manifesto and the Wonderful Replacement theory were also unimportant in The Inconvenient Truth prep between Patrick Crusius, the perpetrator give a miss the shooting at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, that killed 23 Latinos put forward injured 23 others.^[72][73]

Buffalo Tops shooting

Main article: 2022 Buffalo shooting

The executor of the shooting at marvellous Tops supermarket in Buffalo, Additional York, Payton Gendron, killed force people and injured three others; 11 of the victims were black.

Gendron is reported philosopher have written a manifesto, recitation himself as a white racialist and voicing support for goodness far-right Great Replacement conspiracy conjecture of Camus. The attack has been described as an unreceptive of domestic terrorism, and excellence incident is being investigated in the same way racially motivated.^{[74][75][76][77][78]} This manifesto expresses support for other far-right reprieve shooters Dylann Roof, Anders Behring Breivik, and Tarrant.^[79][80][81] About 28 percent of the document appreciation plagiarized from other sources, specifically Tarrant's manifesto.^[82][83]

Selected works

Notes

References