The Backsliding
The Backsliding

Summary/Abstract: The question I would like to address is the revival in Poland, Hungary and, I think, some other countries of the region, of the very old conservative style of politics, including the resurrection of the extreme right wing movements and, in Poland, of religious fundamentalism. I would like to ask what are the reasons for the resurgence of the pre–World War II fascist organizations in the countries that were so severely wounded and humiliated by the Nazi occupations? And what are the reasons of the extreme weakness of the left, be it the post-communist, social democratic or new left? Why is it that today’s language of politics is dominated and shaped by the right, at least in Poland and Hungary? What is puzzling is the reappearance of the old fascist symbols, the reconstruction of prewar nationalisms, racism, anti-Semitism, and the sense of victimhood and resentment. I am sure there are many reasons for this revival, but I would like to address only two of them. I will claim (this is reason number one) that the initial structure of the post-1989 transitions, with their going back to the old party structures, as well as the slogan of “the return to Europe,” had in itself the now realized potential of resurrecting the problems of the past. So the first part of my analysis will be devoted to the first element of the aforementioned slogan, that is, the idea of the return. The second reason and the following part of my analysis will deal with the “Europe” element of the slogan and the Western economic crisis of 2007–2008, which put into question the link between Western democracy and economic well-being. That decoupling of democracy and prosperity made the European Union’s limitations on sovereignty unbearable.

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