I. Introduction In The Democratic Contradictions of Multiculturalism, Jens-Martin Eriksen and Frederik Stjernfelt elaborate on the concept of “culturalism.” In Telos 163 (Summer 2013), Eriksen continues to analyze its intricacies under the heading “Culturalism: When the Culture becomes Political Ideology.”² Horizontal class divisions are out, vertical cultural barriers are in. Seemingly, culture has squeezed out all other concepts. The present essay shall broaden this discussion by asking the question: What is the relation between the Counter-Enlightenment of the early nineteenth century and today's culturalism?

Culturalism refers to two opposite and yet surprisingly similar…