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Accepted Paper:
Paper short abstract:
Drawing on conversations with Polish (far) rightists, this paper shows the relationship between populism, conspiracy theories and collective memory for supporters and representatives of the Polish government alliance Zjednoczona Prawica and the far-right conglomerate Konfederacja.
Paper long abstract:
Looking back at a roughly 1000-year-old history of ups and downs, the last centuries’ recurring switches between occupation and freedom left a significant mark on the Polish collective memory. Not only did the country’s historical experiences intensify the religious imagination of Poland being the “Christ of Nations”, predestined to live through a circle of suffering, death, and rebirth, as well as nourish belief in conspiracy theories. More recently, they have also helped the right-wing populist Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) gain and retain power, not least by convincing their electorate that Poland needed to be protected from foreign occupants and interior enemies again.
Although the PiS-party’s government comeback revived research interest in right-wing populism, conspiracy theories and collective memory in Poland, more ethnographical accounts into the connections between them are needed. Departing from the ERC project PACT, which investigates the connection between populism and conspiracy theories for countries all over the world, the proposed paper looks at these phenomena in Poland with a view to integrating the self-conception of the interviewees into the analysis. Drawing on conversations with a range of interlocutors affiliated with the Polish (far) right, the paper aims to answer: how do supporters and representatives of the national-conservative party alliance Zjednoczona Prawica (Prawo i Spawiedliwość, Solidarna Polska) narrate the current political situation? How important is conspiracy theory to them? How does their narrative differ from the one presented by the far-right and openly conspiracist party conglomerate Konfederacja? And how do both weave Poland’s course of history in?
Narrating the uncertainty at the time of political crises: rumors, conspiracy theories, trolling and propaganda
Session 1 Thursday 8 June, 2023, -