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

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https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/37833

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Francesco Melito is a research fellow at the University of Trieste. His research interests are in the fields of discourse theory, illiberalism, and populism. His recent publications include: ‘The revival of thin-centred nationalism. The case of Fratelli d’Italia’, Contemporary Italian Politics; ‘The organization of Brothers of Italy: an activist and centralized party led by a “mother in the family”’, South European Society and Politics (with M. Zulianello); ‘Hegemonic struggles and the role of contemporary ‘organic intellectuals’: A different perspective for the analysis of discourses’, Politics.


This research is part of a project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 765224.

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    Tradition Against Liberalism in Poland. The Counter-hegemonic Challenge of Illiberal Neo-traditionalism
    (EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2025)
    Melito, Francesco
    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’.
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