The clue is in the name, reactionaries arise in reaction to the progressive force of history (i.e. the class conscious proletariat) in an attempt to preserve current power structures.
I don’t necessarily think there is one “thought process” that defines a reactionary, reactionaries are different in different material conditions. In revolutionary France, a monarchist was reactionary and the bourgeois democratic forces were progressive. In the current epoch, bourgeois democratic forces are reactionary. In a future socialist society, there would be reactionary elements of a different type (vestiges of capitalism that want to return to a market economy, perhaps).
The most dangerous and fundamentalist of the reactionaries are of course the fascists, but they aren’t the only group that is reactionary in current conditions.
I suppose if I was to touch on the thought process/decision making part of your question, I would say that most reactionaries A. Have no theory of class, or an extremely crooked and non-Marxist theory of class, B. Have an idealist concept of history, C. Are usually bound by the limits of capitalist realism in their conception of the ideal society. This leads them into all sorts of incorrect analytical analyses and decisions.
The clue is in the name, reactionaries arise in reaction to the progressive force of history (i.e. the class conscious proletariat) in an attempt to preserve current power structures.
I don’t necessarily think there is one “thought process” that defines a reactionary, reactionaries are different in different material conditions. In revolutionary France, a monarchist was reactionary and the bourgeois democratic forces were progressive. In the current epoch, bourgeois democratic forces are reactionary. In a future socialist society, there would be reactionary elements of a different type (vestiges of capitalism that want to return to a market economy, perhaps).
The most dangerous and fundamentalist of the reactionaries are of course the fascists, but they aren’t the only group that is reactionary in current conditions.
I suppose if I was to touch on the thought process/decision making part of your question, I would say that most reactionaries A. Have no theory of class, or an extremely crooked and non-Marxist theory of class, B. Have an idealist concept of history, C. Are usually bound by the limits of capitalist realism in their conception of the ideal society. This leads them into all sorts of incorrect analytical analyses and decisions.