Messianism in the Heart of Europe: Analysing Poland’s Law and Justice Party, Narratives of Identity, and the European Union

Abstract

This project delves into the contemporary conflict the Polish government under the Eurosceptic and Catholic-nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) finds itself in with the European Union. Within questions of European integration, social values, and what it means to be "European", PiS have attempted to distance Poland's relationship with the EU and promote illiberal policies through the bolstering of a historical narrative of national martyrdom and the messianic concept of the Polish state as a "Christ of Nations", positioning Poland as a defender of traditional Christian values. Through the use of historical institutionalism as a theoretical framework, this project analyses how this messianic narrative has developed in modern Poland and its institutions, and how PiS as a party uses these narratives around Polish national identity to create parameters for who can and can not be considered “Polish”, and how this development has clashed with a competing identity and narrative based around liberal democratic principles from the European Union.