Retrotopian Populism: About the Identity of the Alternative Right Cover Image

Populizm retropijny. O tożsamości alternatywnej prawicy
Retrotopian Populism: About the Identity of the Alternative Right

Author(s): Lech Szczegóła
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Political Theory, Political Sciences
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: right-wing populism; ideology; retrotopia; cultural war; electoral authoritarianism

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is the phenomenon of successes of right-wing parties and their leaders. The contemporary rise of radical populism and its geopolitical scope are reflected in the discourse of its new features. Such a discussion offers a wealth of concepts and notions. Most of them describe practices of dismantling” democracy, threats of dictatorship or even fascism. The presented analysis focuses on the question of the ideological identity of cases that can be specified as consolidated populism. The thesis I advance shows that the source of the durability of electoral support is a specific narrative based on a thinking style which Zygmunt Bauman termed “retrotopia”. This popular world view functions as a legitimizing myth, which the process of limiting democracy hides in the form of culture war. I conclude that the concept of retrotopia adds little to the distinction between today’s different varieties of populist movements and political lead

  • Issue Year: 2023
  • Issue No: 7
  • Page Range: 81-99
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish