The Social Coalition Behind Poland’s Law and Justice Party

Professor David Ost discusses the social bases of the electoral bloc behind the Law and Justice government in Poland, which originally sought the revival of “traditional” values in the country and the strengthening of the state to enforce them but after the global financial crisis, also began to speak about the suffering inflicted on the “Nation” by economic (neo)liberalism. By 2015, Law and Justice was thus drawing support from 1) traditional conservative Catholics, demanding that PiS empower the Church and embrace anti-progressive old social norms; 2) secular nationalist intellectuals, committed to "Polishness" and a greater place for Poland in Europe; as well as 3) workers who support Law and Justice for its economic promises and policies, its efforts at fighting the insecurity and inequality of Poland's peripheral capitalism. Speaker: Professor David Ost teaches politics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in upstate New York. He is currently a member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ.

Om Podcasten

Over the past decade, a number of European populist parties have become increasingly competitive in key votes, and in Eastern Europe, these parties have not only come to power but also remained in office in consecutive elections. In this interview series, we will interrogate some of the main drivers and impacts of populist mobilization in Eastern Europe. The "Rise and Resilience of Populism in Eastern Europe" series is hosted by Dr. Tsveta Petrova and the European Institute at Columbia University. It is made possible with the support of the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union. The views expressed in this series are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Institute or the EU Commission.