Технократическая структура как опция консервативного порядка и ее кризис: проект «сформированного общества» Рюдигера Альтмана

Социологическое обозрение. 2026. № 1. С. 327–346.

Fomichev F.

This article examines Martin Greiffenhagen’s concept of “technocratic conservatism.” It provides an overview of the key tenets of the social theory held by its proponents and outlines the role of Carl Schmitt, as well as the specific ways his ideas were appropriated by conservative intellectuals in the 1960s. The central focus of the analysis is Rüdiger Altmann’s “formierte Gesellschaft” (“formed society”) project, which addresses the crisis of political representation and the problem of political decision-making within a technocratic (“conservative-technocratic”) order. The article investigates Altman’s attempt at a “Schmittian” resolution for this crisis. 

Conceding the impossibility of reviving a “genuinely political” state under 1960s conditions, Altmann nevertheless insisted on the persistence of a domain for sovereign governmental action. He sought its foundation in the objective constraints (Sachzwang) of industrial-technocratic society itself, seeking through it to justify a Schmittian model for legitimizing sovereign political decision-making via the category of authority. Altmann’s proposed synthesis was thus intended to resolve the fundamental crisis of the “technocratic conservative” order, which was being challenged by a resurgent left-wing political activism. 

The present research is part of a series of publications examining the history as well as philosophical and political foundations of German post-war conservatism and the German New Right.

Keywords: Carl Schmitt, Карл Шмитт, немецкий консерватизм, технократический консерватизм, formierte Gesellschaft, German conservatism, technocratic conservatism, Rüdiger Altmann, “formed society”, formierte Gesellschaft, Рюдигер Альтман, "сформированное общество"

Publication based on the results of: National philosophy and culture: spiritual and moral values (2025)