The Illiberal Turn in Politics and Ideology through the Commodified Social Policy of the ‘Family 500+’ Programme

Abstract

The specificity of political and economic changes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over the past decade requires detailed theoretical analysis and in-depth empirical research. In particular, the so-called illiberal turn in politics and the accompanying economic reforms are of interest to social scientists. This article attempts to explain this turn in the context of social policy changes, based on the example of the Family 500+ programme in Poland during the rule of the populist political party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice, or PiS). To demonstrate the instrumental role of this programme in the implementation of the illiberal strategy, the concept of the commodification of social benefits is used to shed new light on the specificity of Polish ‘pseudo-social welfare’. Hence, the main premise of this article is the thesis that the Family 500+ programme not only fails to constitute the foundation of the Polish welfare state, but, through the commodification of social relations and cuts within the de-commodified social services, it reinforces neoliberal economic forces and the importance of the state.