Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • Strategic autonomy
    • War in Ukraine
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

The neoliberal far right in Poland

Gavin Rae 11th December 2019

Confederation, the new force on the far right in Poland which broke through in the parliamentary elections, is the party of (male) privilege, not precarity.

far right in Poland
Gavin Rae

With Law and Justice (PiS) winning a consecutive term in office and Civic Platform remaining the main opposition party, after October’s parliamentary elections not much seemed to have changed in Polish politics. The return of the left to the parliament (with 13 per cent support), did mean that for the first time the PiS government would be challenged there from a progressive left position. More disturbing, however, was the election of a number of MPs from the far-right Confederation party (Konfederacja), which won 7 per cent of the vote.

Confederation blends extreme nationalism, authoritarianism and social conservatism with a radical, neoliberal economic programme. It is made up of two main political forces.

One is the National Movement (RN), formed in 2012 and merging far-right fragments such as the National Radical Camp and All-Polish Youth. Prominent RN leaders, such as Krzysztof Bosak and Robert Winnicki, now sit as MPs. The other is KORWIN, led by the maverick politician Janusz Korwin-Mikke—an ever-present on the extreme fringes of Polish politics during the past three decades—offering an eclectic mix of extreme neoliberalism and social conservatism. As an MEP, Korwin-Mikke announced in the European Parliament that ‘women must earn less than men because they are weaker, smaller and less intelligent’.

Other prominent but independent far-right politicians were also elected under the Confederation banner. Among them is Grzegorz Braun, who once claimed that Poland ‘is a German-Russian condominium under Jewish trusteeship’.


Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content. We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Sign up here

Significant breakthrough

The election of 11 Confederation MPs (all men) represents a significant breakthrough for the Polish far right. It is also a new challenge for PiS, whose failed strategy had been to monopolise the whole of the right of the political spectrum and deny space to extreme right-wing parties by adopting many of their policies and slogans. Confederation will attempt to push PiS and the public debate further to the right on issues such as immigration and LGBT+ rights, while opposing the government’s more pro-social economic programme.

Confederation promotes by contrast a social-Darwinist ideology, which justifies economic inequalities through targeting and stigmatising the poorest and most oppressed sections of society. It is not a populistforce, harnessing the support of an economically excluded mass to an anti-elitist political platform. Rather, it is supported by a relatively privileged section of society, who target those whom they believe are below them in the social order and threaten their elevated status.

In the recent elections, Confederation’s electorate was predominantly male (67 per cent), highly educated (over 43 per cent had a university education) young (three quarters were aged under 40 and half below 30) and dominated by social groups such as students, managers/directors and business owners. The relatively high social position of far-right supporters is shown by those attending the annual nationalist Independence Day march, out of which the RN was created. According to research carried out by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology in Poland, almost 70 per cent of participants have a higher education and their average net monthly income is over 5,500 złoty (the median in Poland is slightly above 2,500 złoty).

What we are observing in Poland is part of the younger generation of voters turning to the far right, having assimilated the dominant, post-Communist neoliberal ideology. They have internalised the ideals of individual achievement and competitiveness, believing that the privileged have gained their position through effort and talent, while poverty and inequality are caused by inferior biological and cultural characteristics.

Distinct difference

One of the features of contemporary Polish politics is the distinct difference between the political allegiances of young male and female voters. While the most popular political party among young (18-35) men is currently Confederation, the favoured option among young women is the Left coalition.

There are also arresting gender differences in wider political attitudes. Young (18-39) women identify climate change as the greatest threat facing Poland, while young men choose the LGBT movement and associated values.

An explanation could lie in the rapid deindustrialisation which accompanied the transition to capitalism in Poland, eroding the social structures which underpinned the dominant male role in the economy and the traditional family model. Young men are more attracted to the aggressive far-right movement, which offers simplistic solutions ostensibly based on the ‘traditional values’ of nation and family. Conversely, young women have been at the forefront in recent years of opposition to the government’s attempts to tighten the country’s (already draconian) abortion law.

The small but significant step forward by Confederation in the parliamentary elections represents a new threat in Poland. Its leaders will be hoping that this is just the beginning and that they can strengthen their position over the next few years. They are seeking to build on the growth of right-wing nationalist and conservative attitudes within a section of society and to harness negative attitudes towards groups such as the LGBT community and immigrants.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

The policies of Confederation however represent the interests of a small minority of society and are not supported by the vast majority of Poles. For its support to be contained, the revived Polish left must offer a radical and viable alternative—to the present government and the far-right emerging in the wings.

Gavin Rae

Gavin Rae is a sociologist in Warsaw. He has written extensively on the political and social changes in Poland and central and eastern Europe, including Poland's Return to Capitalism: From the Socialist Bloc to the European Union and Public Capital: The Commodification of Poland's Welfare State.

You are here: Home / Politics / The neoliberal far right in Poland

Most Popular Posts

Visentini,ITUC,Qatar,Fight Impunity,50,000 Visentini, ‘Fight Impunity’, the ITUC and QatarFrank Hoffer
Russian soldiers' mothers,war,Ukraine The Ukraine war and Russian soldiers’ mothersJennifer Mathers and Natasha Danilova
IGU,documents,International Gas Union,lobby,lobbying,sustainable finance taxonomy,green gas,EU,COP ‘Gaslighting’ Europe on fossil fuelsFaye Holder
Schengen,Fortress Europe,Romania,Bulgaria Romania and Bulgaria stuck in EU’s second tierMagdalena Ulceluse
income inequality,inequality,Gini,1 per cent,elephant chart,elephant Global income inequality: time to revise the elephantBranko Milanovic

Most Recent Posts

transition,deindustrialisation,degradation,environment Europe’s industry and the ecological transitionCharlotte Bez and Lorenzo Feltrin
central and eastern Europe,unions,recognition Social dialogue in central and eastern EuropeMartin Myant
women soldiers,Ukraine Ukraine war: attitudes changing to women soldiersJennifer Mathers and Anna Kvit
military secrets,World Trade Organization,WTO,NATO,intellectual-property rights Military secrets and the World Trade OrganizationUgo Pagano
energy transition,Europe,wind and solar Europe’s energy transition starts to speed upDave Jones

Other Social Europe Publications

front cover scaled Towards a social-democratic century?
Cover e1655225066994 National recovery and resilience plans
Untitled design The transatlantic relationship
Women Corona e1631700896969 500 Women and the coronavirus crisis
sere12 1 RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

The macroeconomic effects of re-applying the EU fiscal rules

Against the background of the European Commission's reform plans for the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), this policy brief uses the macroeconometric multi-country model NiGEM to simulate the macroeconomic implications of the most relevant reform options from 2024 onwards. Next to a return to the existing and unreformed rules, the most prominent options include an expenditure rule linked to a debt anchor.

Our results for the euro area and its four biggest economies—France, Italy, Germany and Spain—indicate that returning to the rules of the SGP would lead to severe cuts in public spending, particularly if the SGP rules were interpreted as in the past. A more flexible interpretation would only somewhat ease the fiscal-adjustment burden. An expenditure rule along the lines of the European Fiscal Board would, however, not necessarily alleviate that burden in and of itself.

Our simulations show great care must be taken to specify the expenditure rule, such that fiscal consolidation is achieved in a growth-friendly way. Raising the debt ceiling to 90 per cent of gross domestic product and applying less demanding fiscal adjustments, as proposed by the IMK, would go a long way.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ILO advertisement

Global Wage Report 2022-23: The impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power

The International Labour Organization's Global Wage Report is a key reference on wages and wage inequality for the academic community and policy-makers around the world.

This eighth edition of the report, The Impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power, examines the evolution of real wages, giving a unique picture of wage trends globally and by region. The report includes evidence on how wages have evolved through the COVID-19 crisis as well as how the current inflationary context is biting into real wage growth in most regions of the world. The report shows that for the first time in the 21st century real wage growth has fallen to negative values while, at the same time, the gap between real productivity growth and real wage growth continues to widen.

The report analysis the evolution of the real total wage bill from 2019 to 2022 to show how its different components—employment, nominal wages and inflation—have changed during the COVID-19 crisis and, more recently, during the cost-of-living crisis. The decomposition of the total wage bill, and its evolution, is shown for all wage employees and distinguishes between women and men. The report also looks at changes in wage inequality and the gender pay gap to reveal how COVID-19 may have contributed to increasing income inequality in different regions of the world. Together, the empirical evidence in the report becomes the backbone of a policy discussion that could play a key role in a human-centred recovery from the different ongoing crises.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ETUI advertisement

Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2022

Since 2000, the annual Bilan social volume has been analysing the state of play of social policy in the European Union during the preceding year, the better to forecast developments in the new one. Co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the new edition is no exception. In the context of multiple crises, the authors find that social policies gained in ambition in 2022. At the same time, the new EU economic framework, expected for 2023, should be made compatible with achieving the EU’s social and ‘green’ objectives. Finally, they raise the question whether the EU Social Imbalances Procedure and Open Strategic Autonomy paradigm could provide windows of opportunity to sustain the EU’s social ambition in the long run.


DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Eurofound webinar: Making telework work for everyone

Since 2020 more European workers and managers have enjoyed greater flexibility and autonomy in work and are reporting their preference for hybrid working. Also driven by technological developments and structural changes in employment, organisations are now integrating telework more permanently into their workplace.

To reflect on these shifts, on 6 December Eurofound researchers Oscar Vargas and John Hurley explored the challenges and opportunities of the surge in telework, as well as the overall growth of telework and teleworkable jobs in the EU and what this means for workers, managers, companies and policymakers.


WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Discover the new FEPS Progressive Yearbook and what 2023 has in store for us!

The Progressive Yearbook focuses on transversal European issues that have left a mark on 2022, delivering insightful future-oriented analysis for the new year. It counts on renowned authors' contributions, including academics, politicians and analysts. This fourth edition is published in a time of war and, therefore, it mostly looks at the conflict itself, the actors involved and the implications for Europe.


DOWNLOAD HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us

RSS Feed

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube