Right-wing populism and feminist politics: The case of Law and Justice in Poland

Abstract

This article disentangles the complexity of right-wing populism and feminist politics using an original framework based on inputs (representative claims) and outputs (policies) to examine a Polish case. In 2015, the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS) formed a single-party majority government led by a female prime minister after winning the elections. PiS is ideologically conservative, promotes traditional and national values and is supported by the Catholic Church. Additionally, it is hostile towards what it calls ‘gender-ideology’ and is reluctant to implement feminist policies. This article also reveals that PiS represents conservative women’s interests and advocates an aspect of conservative feminism, therefore possessing a duality in its claims and policies. Overall, this article draws inferences about the nexus between social conservatism, populism and feminism, and thus seeks to contribute to the scholarly literature by examining a timely issue against the backdrop of rising populism, illiberalism and anti-gender campaigns.

Analysing the “what” and “when” of women’s substantive representation: the role of right-wing populist party ideology

“…In debates on childcare and sketchy coverage of the gender pay gap, there were no references to an outgroup or illiberal ideas. For Law and Justice, the outgroup consisted of refugees in 2015, and an LGBTQ+ community in 2019 (see Gwiazda 2020). Thus, the impact of populist ideology would be expected to surface in illiberal policy responses such as anti-immigrant and anti-gender measures.…”

“…Social conservatism is characterised by the high value it places on ideas such as tradition, customs, family, the nation and religion. It denotes the preservation of traditional values and morality, and the perpetuation of traditional gender roles, and favours a social market economy in the economic sphere (Vincent 2010;Gwiazda 2020). Although there are many definitions of populism (e.g.…”

“…In its 2014 programme, the party reiterated its pledge to increase social provisions for families in the form of a new, universal child benefit (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość 2014). PiS is also populist because it divides society in two antagonistic groups (Gwiazda 2020).…”

“…PiS is socially conservative, promoting traditional and national values, influenced by the Catholic Church. It is hostile to what it calls "gender-ideology" and reluctant to adopt feminist policies (Gwiazda 2020). It withdrew funding for in vitro fertilisation and restricted access to emergency contraception (Korolczuk 2016).…”

Gender Ideologies and Polish Political Parties

“…References to threatening 'gender ideology' were widespread. Since 2015, PiS has restricted women's rights and supported 'LGBT-free' zones (Gwiazda 2020). The 2019 electoral campaign brought into sharp relief PiS's populist and illiberal claims on public media.…”