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Counter-populist performances of (in)security: Feminist resistance in the face of right-wing populism in Poland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

Bohdana Kurylo Open the ORCID record for Bohdana Kurylo [Opens in a new window]
Bohdana Kurylo*
Affiliation:
School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author. Email: bohdana.kurylo.17@ucl.ac.uk
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Abstract

IR scholarship has recently seen a burgeoning interest in the right-wing populist politics of security, showing that it tends to align with the international ultraconservative mobilisation against ‘gender ideology’. In contrast, this article investigates how local feminist actors can resist right-wing populist constructions of (in)security by introducing counter-populist discourses and aesthetics of security. I analyse the case of Poland, which presents two competing populist performances of (in)security: the Independence March organised by right-wing groups on Poland's Independence Day and the Women's Strike protests against the near-total ban on abortion. The article draws on Judith Butler's theory of the performative politics of public assembly, which elucidates how the political subject of ‘the people’ can emerge as bodies come together to make security demands through both verbal and non-verbal acts. I argue that the feminist movement used the vehicle of populist performance to subvert the exclusionary constructions of (in)security by right-wing populists. In the process, it introduced a different conception of security in the struggle for a ‘livable life’. The study expands the understanding of the relationship between populism, security and feminism in IR by exploring how the populist politics of security is differently enacted by everyday agents in local contexts.

Keywords

FeminismJudith ButlerPerformancePolandPopulismSecurity
Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 262 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association

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24 Ostiguy, ‘Socio-cultural, relational approach to populism’.

25 Ibid., p. 34.

26 Moffitt, The Global Rise of Populism.

27 Ibid., p. 16.

28 Annick Wibben, Feminist Security Studies: A Narrative Approach (London, UK: Routledge, 2010).

29 Judith Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 8.

30 Ibid., p. 58.

31 Ibid., p. 5.

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33 Jonathan Dean and Bice Maiguashca, ‘Gender, power and left politics: From feminisation to “feministisation”’, Politics & Gender, 14:3 (2018), pp. 376–406 (p. 396).

34 Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, pp. 129–30.

35 Shirin Rai, ‘Political performance: A framework for analysing democratic politics’, Political Studies, 63:5 (2015), pp. 1179–97 (p. 1183).

36 Ibid.

37 Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 19.

38 Ibid., p. 9.

39 Ibid., p. 157.

40 Ibid., p. 127.

41 Ibid., p. 71.

42 Mona Lilja, ‘Dangerous bodies, matter and emotions: Public assemblies and embodied resistance’, Journal of Political Power, 10:3 (2017), pp. 342–52 (p. 347).

43 Ibid., pp. 346–7.

44 Dean and Maiguashca, ‘Gender, power and left politics’, p. 398.

45 Alexandra Homolar and Georg Löfflmann, ‘Populism and the affective politics of humiliation narratives’, Global Studies Quarterly, 1:1 (2021), pp. 1–11.

46 Rai, ‘Political performance’, pp. 1188–9.

47 Ibid., p. 1187.

48 Marta Kotwas and Jan Kubik, ‘Symbolic thickening of public culture and the rise of right-wing populism in Poland’, East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, 33:2 (2019), pp. 435–71.

49 Author's interview with Tomasz, member of the All-Polish Youth, Warsaw, 19 July 2019.

50 Author's interview with Paweł, member of the National Radical Camp, Warsaw, 16 July 2019.

51 Robert Bąkiewicz, Twitter post (2 November 2020), available at: {https://twitter.com/RBakiewicz/status/1323211751287066631} accessed 27 April 2021.

52 Robert Bakiewicz quoted in ‘Far-right Polish Independence Day march draws thousands despite ban’, Reuters (11 November 2020), available at: {https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-independence-march-idUSKBN27R2PY} accessed 27 April 2021.

53 Democ., Twitter post (11 November 2020), available at: {https://twitter.com/democ_de/status/1326529502046941184} accessed 27 April 2021.

54 Kotwas and Kubik, ‘Symbolic thickening’.

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57 Weronika Grzebalska and Andrea Pető, ‘The gendered modus operandi of the illiberal transformation in Hungary and Poland’, Women's Studies International Forum, 68:May–June (2018), pp. 164–72.

58 Ibid., p. 167.

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60 Jarosław Kaczyński, quoted in ‘Oświadczenie prezesa PiS, wicepremiera Jarosława Kaczyńskiego’ (27 October 2020), available at: {http://pis.org.pl/aktualnosci/oswiadczenie-prezesa-pis-wicepremiera-jaroslawa-kaczynskiego} accessed 27 April 2021.

61 Ibid.

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63 Marta Lempart, ‘LIBE – FEMM Joint Meeting’ (24 February 2021), available at: {https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/libe-femm-joint-meeting_20210224-1345-COMMITTEE-LIBE-FEMM_vd?start=20210224125448&end=20210224144117} accessed 26 April 2021.

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65 Maria Wilczek, ‘Miners, farmers and taxi drivers unite behind protests against Poland's abortion laws’, The Times (27 October 2020), available at: {https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pro-choice-and-far-right-protest-together-against-polands-abortion-laws-xk373px8q} accessed 6 September 2021.

66 Graff, ‘Angry women’, p. 241.

67 Author's interview with Teresa, member of Gals for Gals, Wroclaw, 10 July 2019.

68 Author's interview with Amelia, member of Gals for Gals, Warsaw, 19 July 2019.

69 Gunnarsson Payne, ‘Women as “the people”’, p. 18.

70 Marta Lempart, ‘Marta Lempart on leading Poland's abortion rights protests’, Financial Times (2 December 2020), available at: {https://www.ft.com/content/b6012449-0c11-419a-b439-6e3320f47e86} accessed 12 July 2021.

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72 International Planned Parenthood Federation, ‘Polish Ruling Party Exploits the Current Health Crisis to Undermine Women and Young People's Safety’ (14 April 2020), available at: {https://www.ippfen.org/news/polish-ruling-party-exploits-current-health-crisis-undermine-women-and-young-peoples-safety} accessed 2 September 2021.

73 Quoted in ‘“Sex is not a crime”: The women protesting Poland's new abortion law’, The Guardian (13 November 2020), available at: {https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/nov/13/sex-is-not-a-the-women-protesting-polands-new-abortion-law} accessed 27 April 2021.

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76 Kaczyński, ‘Oświadczenie prezesa PiS’.

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78 Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 151.

79 Lempart, ‘LIBE – FEMM Joint Meeting’.

80 Klementyna Suchanow, quoted in Anita Karwowska, ‘Strajk Kobiet odtajnia tajniaków. Zbiera nagrania z protestów’, Wyborcza (20 November 2020), available at: {https://wyborcza.pl/7,162657,26530516,strajk-kobiet-odtajnia-tajniakow-zbiera-nagrania-z-protestow.html} accessed 27 April 2021.

81 Ibid.

82 Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 83.

83 Author's interview with Marlena, Women's Strike participant, Warsaw, 14 January 2021.

84 Agnieszka Czerederecka, quoted in Anita Karwowska, ‘Grudzień będzie gorący: Jak zawsze w ostatnich latach. Mamy nadzieję, że to koniec tej władzy’, Wyborcza (20 November 2020), available at: {https://wyborcza.pl/7,162657,26531798,grudzien-bedzie-goracy-jak-zawsze-w-ostatnich-latach-mamy.html} accessed 27 April 2021.

85 Kurylo, ‘Discourse and aesthetics of populism’, p. 13.

86 Ibid., p. 15.

87 Ibid., p. 7.

88 Agnieszka Graff, ‘Claiming the shipyard, the cowboy hat and the anchor for women: Polish feminism's dialogue and struggle with national symbolism’, East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, 33:2 (2019), pp. 472–96.

89 Ibid., p. 482.

90 Jarek Kubicki, Facebook post (26 October 2020), available at: {https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10221508566575353&set=pcb.10221500225686836} accessed 27 April 2020.

91 Ewa Majewska, ‘Słaby opór i siła bezsilnych: #Czarnyprotest kobiet w Polsce 2016’ (10 November 2016), available at: {https://www.praktykateoretyczna.pl/artykuly/ewa-majewska-saby-opor-i-sia-bezsilnych-czarnyprotest-kobiet-w-polsce-2016/} accessed 19 July 2021.

92 Polish Masters of Art, Facebook post (30 October 2020), available at: {https://www.facebook.com/PolishMastersofArt/photos/a.1526688624261610/2729223614008099} accessed 27 April 2021.

93 Gunnarsson Payne, ‘Women as “the people”’, p. 11.

94 All-Poland Women's Strike, Facebook post (31 January 2021), available at: {https://www.facebook.com/ogolnopolskistrajkkobiet/photos/pcb.5730873760271908/5730873416938609/} accessed 27 April 2021.

95 Graff, ‘Angry women’, p. 231.

96 The video is available at: {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49pBuXM4mYs}.

97 ‘Szkoda, że Maryja nie zrobiła aborcji. Kolejny atak obrażający uczucia religijne’, TVP Info (26 October 2020), available at: {https://www.tvp.info/50508346/protest-trybunal-konstytucyjny-aborcja-gliwice-szkoda-ze-maryja-nie-zrobila-aborcji-kolejny-atak-obrazajacy-uczucia-religijne-wieszwiecej} accessed 5 September 2021.

98 Author's interview with Gabriela, member of the Women's Strike, Klodzko, 11 February 2021.

99 The video is available at: {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3gde1BSmp8}.

100 Kurylo, ‘Discourse and aesthetics of populism’, p. 15.

101 Author's interview with Michał, member of the Pro-Right to Life Foundation, Warsaw, 17 July 2019.

102 Author's interview with Marlena, Women's Strike participant, Warsaw, 14 January 2021.

103 Author's interview with Paulina, Women's Strike participant, Krakow, 12 February 2021.

104 Ibid.

105 Author's interview with Zuzanna, Women's Strike participant, Gdynia, 10 February 2021.

106 All-Poland Women's Strike, Facebook post (25 November 2020), available at: {https://www.facebook.com/ogolnopolskistrajkkobiet/posts/5429823133710307/} accessed 16 April 2021.

107 Author's interview with Giovanna, Women's Strike participant, Warsaw, 28 January 2021.

108 Butler, Notes toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 33.

109 Ibid.

110 Interview with Paulina, Women's Strike participant, Kraków, 12 February 2021.

111 Federation for Women and Family Planning, ‘Polish Constitutional Tribunal Publishes Justification for the Abortion-Banning Ruling’, available at: {https://en.federa.org.pl/polish-constitutional-tribunal-publishes-justification-for-the-abortion-banning-ruling/} accessed 27 April 2021.

112 Judith Butler, Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence (London, UK: Verso, 2004), p. 20.

113 Lena, member of the Abortion Dream Team from Warsaw, 30 May 2021.

114 Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 209.

115 Judith Butler, Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? (London, UK: Verso, 2009).

116 Ibid., p. 19.

117 Kathryn McNeilly, ‘From the right to life to the right to livability: Radically reapproaching “life” in human rights politics’, Australian Feminist Law Journal, 41:1 (2015), pp. 141–59.

118 Interview with Eliza, Gals for Gals Wroclaw, Wroclaw, 20 July 2019.

119 Interview with Gabriela.

120 Strajk Kobiet Kłodzko i Powiat, Facebook post (14 January 2021), available at: {https://www.facebook.com/StrajkKobietKlodzko/photos/pcb.2879358735681771/2879358559015122} accessed 27 April 2021.

121 Butler, Precarious Life.

122 Author's interview with Ada, member of Gals for Gals, Lodz, 15 June 2021.

123 Maiguashca, ‘Resisting the “populist hype”’, p. 769.

124 Ibid., p. 784.

125 Ibid., p. 772.

126 Butler, Performative Theory of Assembly, p. 58.

127 Ibid.

128 Birte Siim, Anna Krasteva, and Aino Saarinen (eds), Citizens’ Activism and Solidarity Movements: Contending with Populism (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

129 Frank Stengel, David MacDonald, and Dirk Nabers, ‘Introduction: Analysing the nexus between populism and International Relations’, in Frank Stengel, David MacDonald, and Dirk Nabers (eds), Populism and World Politics: Exploring Inter- and Transnational Dimensions (London, UK: Palgrave, 2019), pp. 1–22 (p. 4).