Illiberal Nationalism and the Backlash against Liberal Cosmopolitanism in Post-Communist Europe

Abstract

This article analyses the fate of liberal nationalism in the post-communist space and the rise of illiberal variants in recent years. It explores how liberalism has been decoupled from nationalism and is now closely associated with cosmopolitanism, which supports universal rights while downplaying notions of national citizenship. The result is that, as publics have grown sour on globalization and institutions such as the European Union, illiberal nationalism has become the “default” nationalist response. While recognizing that this reaction holds across much of Europe, it investigates the rise of illiberal nationalism in Hungary and Poland. In addition to analyzing actions and statements of political elites, it presents public opinion data to argue that there remains a pronounced East-West gap on several fundamental issues.