Renaud Camus, the Great Replacement, and British politics

Part I: Camus and ‘The enemy of the disaster’

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT AN APOLOGY, DEFENCE, OR ENDORSEMENT OF RENAUD CAMUS’ THOUGHT. IT IS AN ATTEMPT ONLY TO UNDERSTAND IT.

This is the first excerpt from a research chapter examining the thought and impact of the French philosopher Renaud Camus. This first excerpt attempts to examine the actual, specific thought of Camus as distinct from that which has been said of, or distorted, his thought, either by those who seek to use elements of his thought in a malicious manner, or those who caricature it. The second excerpt will consider the ways in which Camus’ thought has been intentionally distorted by conspiracy theorists to promote a racist, conspiratorial narrative that national elites are seeking to ‘replace’ the native populations. The third excerpt will conclude with how, if at all, the thought of Camus can be considered applicable to the political setting of the United Kingdom.

Over the Easter 2025 weekend, the gay, leftist, French philosopher and novelist Renaud Camus was banned from entering Britain, in anticipation of speeches he was preparing to give. One, to the radical, fringe political party called the Homeland Party, and another to the more prestigious Oxford University Student Union. Ironically, as I pointed out at the time, prior to being banned, basically nobody in the country had heard of Renaud Camus, but now he is making national headlines, and the Free Speech Union are intending to fight his appeal against the ban.

Camus was banned from Britain on the basis that his presence is “not considered to be conducive to the public good”. Why might that the be case? As the ever-excellent Sam Bidwell pointed out, the Home Office has taken a somewhat… inconsistent approach to deciding who should be allowed into the country on the basis of “the public good”. But the reason Camus was banned was because he is the originator of the ‘Great Replacement’ thesis.

There is a palpable sense of irony surrounding this whole case. As noted above by Bidwell, the Home Office has developed a reputation for failing to enforce our borders when it comes to people with a genuine antipathy or even outright hostility towards our public safety. Meanwhile, they have judiciously enforced the ban of a man whose philosophy and political thought has been dedicated almost entirely to preventing mass immigration and theorising its impact on the existence of a people, understood as a discrete and historical entity.

This is the origin of what has come to be known as the ‘Great Replacement’ thesis. It was touted as a conspiracy theory in the dying days of Donald Trump’s first presidency, and maintained a momentum through the Biden years, propelled forward by the very-online era of the covid pandemic. First, to understand why Camus is so controversial, what he actually says should be understood - and so this essay examines Camus’ theory of the Great Replacement as it was originally written.

I understood, before being fully aware of Camus, that he was a controversial figure, but I confess I did not know his actual theory. To remedy this, I decided to read it and, from the perspective of a political theorist, do my best to understand it. Therefore, everything hereafter is not an apology, defence, or endorsement of Camus’ thought; it is merely an attempt to understand it, in the same way I have attempted to, in my academic career, understand populism, Nazism, and other extreme philosophies.

‘The Enemy of the Disaster'

Note: All following quotes and references are to the collection of essays and speeches delivered by Camus in the edited volume, ‘Enemy of the Disaster’ (EoD), published by Vauban Books.