The Right Kind of Family, the Right Kind of Migrant: Welfare and Immigration in Poland Before and After the Populist Turn

• Anna Safuta ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Tübingen

     University of Tübingen

     Landkreis Tübingen, Alemania

     
• Localización: Excluding Diversity Through Intersectional Borderings: Politics, Policies and Daily Lives / Laura Merla (ed. lit.), Sarah Murru (ed. lit.), Giacomo Orsini (ed. lit.), Tanja Vuckovic Juros (ed. lit.), 2024, ISBN 978-3-031-65622-4, págs. 43-54
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Right-wing populism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) uses welfare and migration policies to legitimize its illiberalism. This chapter examines welfare and immigration policies in Poland since 2005, when populists first came to power. The findings are based on 17 expert interviews and document analysis, and challenge the notion of a radical shift between liberal democracy and illiberal populism. In the welfare and immigration domains, illiberal populism is rather a reactionary intensification of prior ideological orientations. In line with the book’s focus on anti-gender and anti-migrant discourses, the chapter identifies bordering practices involved in illiberal populist welfare and migration policies. Deserving welfare subjects are those who can fulfil ‘nationalist familialist’ ideals establishing the heteropatriarchal family as the foundation of the nation. In the migration domain, illiberal populism distinguishes between desirable inflows from former Soviet countries (‘peripherally white’ migration) and unwanted non-white migrants. These insights are pertinent beyond CEE. They highlight how liberal market-oriented social policy lays the groundwork for populist self-positioning as welfare champions supporting the nation’s ‘real’ families. Additionally, the chapter shows that right-wing populism strategically opposes certain migrations while encouraging others.