This article investigates the roots of populism in Poland in its current traditionalist-conservative fashion. In contrast with the liberal hegemony and, more specifically, with its ‘true European values’, right-wing populists in Poland claim to speak in the name of those people who refuse this external system of values and who experienced a ‘cultural displacement’. The article examines whether the consensual process of European Union (EU) integration has created room for a populist moment. Particular emphasis is given to the importance of culture in the construction of an alternative neo-traditionalist project. While the post-structuralist literature on populism has mostly focused on Western Europe and socio-economic demands, the concept of neo-traditionalism reveals the confrontation between two different blocs also in Central-Eastern Europe. The author analyses the neo-traditionalist discourse in Poland, most notably produced by the conservative party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS), as a counter-hegemonic project. Opposing mainstream EU values, PiS appealed to ‘ordinary Poles’ and adopted a traditionalist-conservative narrative. The article will show how the neglect of a neo-traditionalist world view by the European elite and the threat to identity posed by liberal and individualistic values have been exploited by right-wing populists to forge a new common sense.

The enormous attention devoted to populism has simplified the framework for analysis of the “illiberal turn” in Central-Eastern Europe. Although a populist aspect is certainly present, reductio ad populismum neglects other interpretations of the current political polarization. The article contributes to the literature on the cultural aspects of illiberalism as it offers an innovative theoretical examination of illiberalism(s) in the region. It proposes the concept of neo-traditionalism as a more comprehensive lens of analysis of the anti-colonial narrative against the “foreign liberal West” to defend the “genuine traditional Europe.” Neo-traditionalism in Central-Eastern Europe captures two criticisms of progressive liberalism. First, it contrasts progressive modernizing values. Emancipation and fluid identities are counterbalanced by a discourse where traditions provide ontological security and culturally defined identities. Second, it denounces the foreign origin of progressivism. The liberal West is described as a colonial power aiming to destroy “our authentic way of life.” Thus, the populist dimension of illiberalism in Central-Eastern Europe could be better grasped if we applied the concept of neo-traditionalism. Not only are the elites isolated from the people. They are also deemed to impose a colonial project to replace and modernize true European values.

Defending the Traditional Polish Way of Life: The Role of FantasiesThe current escalation of the cultural conflict in Poland is described as a cultural war between neo-traditionalist and liberal worldviews. Drawing on psychoanalytic political theory and Poststructuralist Discourse Theory (PDT), fantasmatic narratives are deemed as an instrument to conceal the non-necessary character of identities. Based on the direct observation of the counter-marches against LGBT parades in Kalisz, Lublin, and Kraków (2019–2020), this article shows how fantasies define the ‘authentic Polish way of life’: from the traditional family in an idyllic scenario (beatific fantasy) to the ‘LGBT virus’ (horrific fantasy), fantasies sustain a neo-traditionalist conception of Polishness and exclude antagonistic visions. Also, religious symbols are sublimated to embody the lost unity: a harmonious society without the conflict generated by the liberal value system. The fantasmatic logic analyzed in the article explains how neo-traditionalist fantasies strengthen identities and provide the necessary ideological ground to resist the emancipatory impetus of liberalism. Broniąc tradycyjnego polskiego stylu życia. Rola fantazjiAktualnie zaostrzający się konflikt kulturowy w Polsce określa się mianem wojny kulturowej między światopoglądem neotradycjonalistycznym a liberalnym. Odwołując się do psychoanalitycznej teorii politycznej i poststrukturalistycznej teorii dyskursu, autor uznaje fantazmatyczne narracje za narzędzie maskujące niekonieczny (non-necessary) charakter tożsamości. Na podstawie bezpośredniej obserwacji kontrmanifestacji organizowanych jako sprzeciw wobec marszów równości w Kaliszu, Lublinie i Krakowie (2019–2020) w artykule zaprezentowano, w jaki sposób fantazje definiują „prawdziwy polski styl życia”: poczynając od obrazu tradycyjnej rodziny w sielankowym otoczeniu (beatific fantasy), na „wirusie LGBT” (horrific fantasy) kończąc, fantazje podtrzymują neotradycjonalistyczną koncepcję polskości i wykluczają jej odmienne wizje. Z kolei symbole religijne zinstrumentalizowano tak, by ucieleśniały utraconą jedność – harmonijne społeczeństwo bez konfliktów wywoływanych przez liberalny system wartości. Fantazmatyczna logika analizowana w artykule pozwala wyjaśnić, jak neotradycjonalistyczne fantazje wzmacniają tożsamości i dostarczają niezbędnej podstawy ideologicznej, aby stawić opór emancypacyjnemu naporowi liberalizmu.

As the partisan meaning attached to ‘populism’ has provided this word with a negative stigma used to demonize alternative discourses, this article seeks to fill two gaps in the populist literature. First, it aims at retrieving the term ‘populism’ from a spurious understanding and reintroducing a forgotten word, which has become a synonym of populism and contributed to its negative aura: demagogy. Populism (bottom-up) and demagogy (top-down) are defined as opposite terms. While this distinction could be easily grasped from their etymological roots, it takes on a different dimension when seen from a hegemonic perspective. Second, elaborating on Gramsci and Laclau’s theory, it provides a theoretical basis for the study of anti-populism. Like populism, anti-populism results from a dislocatory experience as it is (negatively) defined by its populist antagonist. Besides considering its negative dimension, the article discusses the positivization of the anti-populist discourse, which resides in the (re)production of broken normality. Demagogism is a weapon in the hegemonic struggle between different discourses that aims to restore mainstream common sense (normality) against a counter-hegemonic project (populism). Finally, the article suggests that beyond anti-populism, demagogism, understood as a normalizing practice, could potentially be applied in the empirical analysis of neo-traditionalist discourses.