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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the Polish far right, showing how emotions structure internal power relations and produce emotional hegemonies. Ethnography and theory reveal how affective practices consolidate authority, shape internal hierarchies, and guide dominance struggles.

Paper long abstract

Continuing growth in social support for far-right movements and their proposals has been evident in recent years almost all over Europe. Emotions are central to shaping the dynamics and trajectories of extremist attitudes, as well as dynamics of relations in which such groups are involved.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and theoretical insights, my presentation focuses on the Polish far right as a milieu that has developed strategies to mobilise supporters from significantly different social backgrounds. This phenomenon correlates with internal movement diversity. Individual factions exhibit noticeable differences in the way they display, distribute, and use emotions, including those commonly associated with violence. Emotions such as anger, hatred, disgust, and fear are mobilised on multiple levels in social practices to polarise society and legitimise exclusionary and violent imaginaries. Certain emotions are perceived as desirable, while others are valued negatively–as unnecessary or dangerous. Emotional regulation often becomes a deliberate action aimed at creating particular group images and building specific relations with the wider community.

Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s work on emotions as boundary-making practices (2014), this paper analyses how these processes shape internal dynamics, group consolidation, struggles over dominance, shifting power relations, and the formation of emotional hegemonies. Simultaneously,I’ll discuss how emotional practices influence the organisation of the group's social reality and the movement’s public perception.

Understanding the affective mechanisms is crucial for explaining the movement’s popularity and functioning. At the same time, it opens up space for reflecting on how extremist attitudes emerge and how they might be contested or unsettled.