19. Tradition Against Liberalism in Poland. The Counter-hegemonic Challenge of Illiberal Neo-traditionalism

The book examines the discursive shift towards illiberalism in Poland, analyzing the period 2015–2020, with a particular focus on its cultural dimension. While much of the existing literature has explored the causes of illiberalism, this study investigates the construction of an illiberal neotraditionalist discourse shaped by traditionalism, anti-modernism, and anticolonialism. The Polish ‘illiberal turn’is explained as a counter-hegemonic reaction that rejects the cultural foundations of liberal democracy, offering an alternative worldview. Grounded in Poststructuralist Discourse Theory, the research seeks to uncover the content of Polish neo-traditionalism, its political and hegemonic strategy, and the fantasies that sustain its ideological appeal. To this end, a discourse-theoretical analysis was conducted on various Polish ‘organic intellectuals’of neo-traditionalism. Instead of focusing on a single actor or party, the study identifies a common (informal and often implicit) discourse coalition that consistently advances a narrative centered on three key elements: tradition, a culturally defined nation, and people-asa- community. This illiberal neo-traditionalist discourse coalition in Poland has deployed a hegemonic strategy that has, at least in part, legitimized the discursive shift towards illiberalism, giving voice to the ‘cultural losers of globalization’.