The Rule of Law as a Postcolonial Relic: The Narrative of the Polish Right

Abstract

AbstractThe article discusses the use of postcolonial framing in the 2019 election agenda ofPrawo i Sprawiedliwość. The main argument is that the framing of contemporary EU-relations as a new colonial dependence is crucial for the understanding of the backsliding on the standards of the democratic rule of law in Poland. A detailed analysis of the 2019 agenda focuses on five selected components of postcolonial framing: (1) creolisation of elites; (2) mimicry; (3) hybridity; (4) subalternity; and (5) voicelessness. The discussion of findings zooms in on the ways in which the postcolonial framing of Poland’s position in the EU is being used to question the EU rule of law standards. Thus, the article makes a direct connection between framing the EU-Poland relations and the reasons offered in domestic politics to undermine the rule of law.