The Exclusionary Nationalist Discourse of Radical Populist Right-Wing Parties in Contemporary Poland

Abstrakt

The objective of the paper is to analyse the nationalist political message of radical populist right-wing parties in Poland from 2015 to 2022. The authors apply a wide theoretical approach to the study of right-wing populism. The text exemplifies the category of ‘enemies’ of Poland and Polishness on the basis of three groups. The first analysed category is that of ‘the leftists’ and ‘cultural Marxists’, who are accused of undermining the ‘true’ roots of European civilisation. This part is followed by an analysis of a related but distinct category, namely atheists, who allegedly constitute a threat to the Catholic identity of Poles. The last group under analysis is refugees – especially Muslim refugees – who are presented in a racialised and even racist manner. The conclusions emphasise the undemocratic nature of the discourse of the Polish radical right.