Abstract
Over the last decade, representations of the rainbow were repeatedly disputed in Poland, revealing the country’s ongoing socio-political changes and its drift away from the generally liberal and secular values of the European mainstream. These cases show a political growth and an increasing social diffusion of Polish ‘national paleoconservatism.’ The aim of this article is to (1) discuss the intellectual roots of this distinct form of conservatism built upon the confrontational notions of national identity, patriotism, and Catholicism; (2) propose a novel concept in the studies of Polish politics (‘national paleoconservatism’); and (3) present the social diffusion of such conservatism based on conflicts over representations of the rainbow. By combining the historical and intellectual background with the contemporary case studies, the authors aim to facilitate a deeper understanding of the vitality of national conservative ideas among internationally unknown conservative intellectuals, who participate in a discursive ‘culture war’ against their liberal, progressive and secular opponents in present-day Poland. The ideological conflicts revolve around the meaning of Polish national identity, the essential character of the country’s culture, and the position of Poland within the framework of European integration.
Highlights
Since 2015, when the parliamentary elections brought the national conservative party Law and Justice to governmental power, many socio-political developments in Poland have provoked waves of heated and critical comments in both Western media and scholarly works
Even if we accept that depicting Poland as a state with cultural politics permeated by right-wing discourses is accurate, such depictions seldom thoroughly account for why social conservatism and traditional values continue to constitute a vital dimension of Polish societal life
The process of gradual advancement of national paleoconservatism, from an intellectual and ideological framework embedded in the history of Polish political culture to a socio-political force supported by a large part of the electorate, can be exemplified by three cases of the disputes around the representations of the rainbow
Summary
Since 2015, when the parliamentary elections brought the national conservative party Law and Justice to governmental power, many socio-political developments in Poland have provoked waves of heated and critical comments in both Western media and scholarly works. Despite the variety of existing concepts and terms, many recent studies of Polish socio-political life concur that the country is led by an illiberal government that challenges mainstream ‘European values.’ Such values are generally liberal-democratic, secular and multicultural in character (compare: Vignoles et al 2018). Even if we accept that depicting Poland as a state with cultural politics permeated by right-wing discourses is accurate, such depictions seldom thoroughly account for why social conservatism and traditional values continue to constitute a vital dimension of Polish societal life Nor do they provide an in-depth insight into the fundamental sources of the ideological content and intellectual legitimacy of Polish traditionalism.
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