Related Papers
Confederacy — the polish new right wing between tradition and modernity
2020 •
Jarosław Tomasiewicz
Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość (Confederacy for Freedom and Independence) is new, far-right force in Poland. Success of the KWiN broke political monopoly of the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) party on the right wing. The paper examines structure, strategy, ideology and social basis of the Confederacy. This new formation amalgamating cultural conservatism and economic liberalism is similar rather to American Trumpism and alt-right than the protest movements of WesternEuropean right wing populism.
Political backlash in postcommunist Poland – the alliances between nationalist far right and working class 25 years after the decline of communism
Adam Konopka
Political backlash in postcommunist Poland – the alliances between nationalist far right and working class 25 years after the decline of communism The article describes the alliances between nationalist organisations and local branches of the Solidarity trade union in recent years. I frame this discussion by using the historical-political perspective of David Ost's " Defeat of Solidarity " and George's Sorel philosophical concept of revolutionary syndicalism.
The Transformation of Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe: Ideas and Structures. Edited by Karl Cordell & Konrad Jajecznik. Warsaw: Faculty of Journalism and Political Science. ISBN 978-83-63183-81-3.
The Nationalist Movement in Poland: the Third Evolution Phase of Polish Nationalism after 1989?
2015 •
Konrad Jajecznik
The most significant contribution of this chapter is analysis of factors that have brought about an increase in the social popularity of nationalism in Poland in the second decade of the 21st century. Diagnosis of the factors that determine the younger generation’s demand for nationalists ideas, political events, social networks and organisations is an interesting issue, especially in the context of elections, both held in 2014 and 2015. The author intends to verify the thesis that the NM is not a continuation of mainstream post-1989 Polish nationalism but rather that it constitutes a new type of nationalism altogether. Since 2010, we have been able to observe efforts to initiate a modern political doctrine aimed at providing solutions to contemporary challenges and at bringing about a more effective formula of political activity. Secondly, an important question is to identify which of its political wings – moderate or radical – will emerge as dominant in the near future. Consequently, could the NM pose a threat to democracy or is it a mere protest party operating in the legal framework of the political system? Thirdly, it is difficult accurately to assess the NM’s popularity and electoral potential. The final task is to diagnose whether the NM is a symptom of a legitimacy crisis of the political establishment in Poland.
Tracing the Roots of a New Nationalism in Poland: An Alt -Right Renaissance
Nathaniel Sansom
Nationalism has been a force of both unity and division throughout history. From patriotic national pride to xenophobia and fear-mongering, nationalism within conservative parties across the world has undergone a revisionist period over the past decade. From the United Kingdom's referendum vote to exit the European Union to the United States' 2016 election of President Donald Trump, a rise of the alternative right and of nationalist and even populist ideologies has been observed across the world (Gusterson, 2017, p. 209). This study focuses on the nationalist revision enabled by a rise of the alternative right within Poland. While nationalism within western countries has been studied extensively, there is a lack of detailed analyses pertaining specifically to Eastern or Central European nations. Tracing the roots of Solidarność (the Solidarity movement), which led to Lech Wałęsa's uncertain rise to power out of a Gdansk shipyard (Paczkowski, 2015, pp. 149-150), to the rebirth of the Polish economy upon ascension to the European Union in the early twenty-first century (Kaczmarczyk, 2018, p. 91), this study observes the economic, religious, cultural, and political underpinnings that have led to a rise of an alternative right within Poland. In the aftermath of an economic and nationalist renaissance which has taken place in Poland, a resurgence of ethnocentrism and xenophobia has been experienced (Cienski, 2015). This revised form of nationalism has occurred at the helm of the Conservative Law & Justice Party's rise to power and has also giving rise to explicit forms of hom*ophobia (Graff, 2010, p. 583-584). Relying upon World Values Survey data to create a comparison of this nativist resurgence in both Poland and the United Sates, this study also offers a comparative analysis between the two nations.
Workers and the Radical Right in Poland
David Ost
How has the Law and Justice Party in Poland (PiS) been able to get significant labor support to introduce far-right policies that undermine pluralist democracy? We look at PiS in the context of the " left fascist " traditions of the past, when redistributionist policies won wide support among workers who were accepted as part of the favored " nation. " Labor support breaks down along three lines, with industrial labor most closely aligned with PiS, white-collar labor (in education and health) mostly opposed, and the marginalized small-city precariat being mobilized by PiS, but also finding a place in explicitly fascist parties further to the Right. Left alternatives, weakened due to the collapse of class discourse, are slowly reemerging, but the Right will likely command most labor support for the near future.
'Ty Lewaku!': Resisting right wing populism in contemporary Poland
2020 •
Peter North
This article discusses left-wing thought in today's Poland as a case study of resistance to right-wing populism in east central Europe (CEE). In contrast with deeply pessimistic, structural 'Gramscian' analyses of a neoliberalised, formerly backward, peripheral, 'eastern' Poland re-joining the 'west' before turning to right-wing populism, the article argues that as much attention should be paid to its left-wing opponents as to neoliberalism and populism themselves. The article acknowledges that given the pathologies of what was called 'actually existing socialism' in Poland, historical and contemporary discourses are utilised to attempt to aggressively delegitimise what are pejoratively called lewacy-'lefties'-in contemporary Poland with the result that the left's successes in conventional electoral terms is limited. But that is not the whole story. What is more interesting is to explore how contemporary lay anticommunism shapes the conditions of, rather than determines, the fundamental limits of progressive imaginations for today's Poland. Given the context in which Polish leftists operate, what do they argue for in order to counter and ameliorate aggressive discourses? The article argues that the Polish left counters right-wing populism by (1) drawing inspiration from social democracy, welfare states and past histories of Polish thought on cooperation and self-management; (2) by linking with and building from vibrant movements opposing populism's reactionary cultural stances, and (3) by taking opportunities afforded by Poland's electoral system. The article concludes that to move forward it might be more fruitful to explore less state-focused, less paranoid, non-capitalocentric conceptualisations of oppositions to right-wing populism in CEE.
Civil Society and the Rise of the Radical Right in Poland
2020 •
Stjepan Lacković
The influence of the radical right in the whole of Central Europe not only continues to grow, but has reached its apex by gaining power in Poland and Hungary. Its success is often attributed to two factors: a) the weakness of civil society, and b) economic and social crisis. We shall try to dispute these theses by using the example of Poland. We will defend a thesis that contradicts the usual claim that developed civil society also fosters democracy, and will show that the radical right owes its success precisely to its strength in civil society. This text will also show that there is no direct connection between the radical right and economic crisis, and that the real reason for its success is the dominance over the public discourse. The text is divided into three parts: the first will define the concept of the radical right and give an overview of the theories about its rise; the second part will focus on different explanations of the relationship between civil society and liberal...
Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal
Neo-nationalism in Poland and Its Impact on Labor Law and Social Policy
2021 •
Piotr Grzebyk
This paper discusses neo-nationalism in Poland and its impact on social policy and labor law. It is predicated on the following assumptions: since 2015, Poland has been governed by a coalition of right-wing parties headed by the political party Law and Justice; in order to secure a victory in the elections in 2014 and 2019, and after coming into power in 2015, this coalition has used the rhetoric of neo-nationalism (new nationalist movement) and acted in tune with the guiding principles of this ideology In the first part of the paper, I discuss the concepts of ‘new nationalism’ and ‘neo-nationalism’. In the second part, I outline the aspects of the agenda of the parties currently in power in Poland that are aligned with the neo-nationalist outlook. In the third part, I explore the reasons behind the resonance of populist and nationalist views in Poland, and behind the two subsequent electoral victories of Law and Justice (in 2015 and again in 2019). In the fourth part, I review the post-2015 reforms, focusing first on their impact on the public and second on the support that Law and Justice enjoys in Poland. My key argument here is that the purpose of the post-2015 social policy reforms in general, and those in the realm of family policy in particular, is to legitimize the Law and Justice administration. The reforms are not intended to address systematic labor market problems and social policy challenges. They are designed to be impressive rather than effective. The focus is on quick gambits with big immediate political payoff among the sectors of the society that have the power to sway the vote.
Civil Society and Backsliding of Democracy: The Nature of the recent rise of Nationalism in Poland
Clara Santelmann
In the aftermath of the latest Polish parliamentary election, many political observers worried about a hypothetical backsliding of democracy in the biggest country of the Visegrad area. The arrival in power of the openly nationalist and populist “Law and Justice” (PiS) created a feeling of instability in the region, already existing since Victor Orbán won the 2011 election in Hungary. If the similarity between those two countries are striking, I will argue in this paper that the recent nationalist path Poland is on right now is inherent to its very own historical background, and due to the size and nature of its civil society.
The charge of the “Right Brigade”: Transnational social forces and Poland’s neoliberal transition
Stuart Shields
