In 2018 Poland celebrates the centenary of the restoration of its sovereignty. Although the yearly celebrations organised on 11 November by far-right groups turned into an infamous tradition long time ago, the 100th anniversary was unusual. Amid controversy over the presence of nationalist extremists, the 2018 March of Independence became a state-sanctioned event under the auspices of President Andrzej Duda. The National Independence Day happen to be neither an opportunity to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage nor an occasion to commemorate female thinkers of Polish independence, such as Rosa Luxemburg.

The main assumption of this paper is that specific feminist activities may easily embellish the populist surge that currently sweeps Poland and, thereby, contribute to the normalisation of the politics of exclusion. Firstly, this paper intends to scrutinise the far-right movements in Poland and, in particular, their views on women’s rights, LGBTQ issues as well as matters related to immigrants and refugees. Secondly, it analyses how misogynist, homophobic, anti-immigrant and racist attitudes get access to and control over political discourse, and, in consequence, influence social mobilisation.

In my analysis, I examine Polish politics of memory related to the restoration of Polish independence in 1918 in order to demonstrate how the current strategies frame and organise both individual and collective memories. Firstly, I shift away from the symbolic figures glorified by the state ideology towards those overlooked, marginalised or unacknowledged. Secondly, I argue that, relying on the anti-communist paradigm, Polish politics of memory erects symbolic borders in the social imaginary that strengthen the ongoing nationalist revival. Finally, I claim that many Polish feminists choose to ignore their rich heritage by subscribing to the anti-communist paradigm and, instead of questioning the dominant discourse, pay tribute to women of nationalist background via herstory projects. Thereby, Polish feminism reinforces the mainstream narratives of Polishness as an exclusionary category and, at the same time, legitimises the state ideology as inclusive of difference. All of the above, I argue, shows an urgent need for critical reflection on feminism as a powerful site of discourse creation that can mobilise resistance against right-wing nationalism.

Aleksandra Sygnowska is a PhD student in Sociology at Polish Academy of Sciences. She holds an MSc in International Relations from Cardiff University. Apart from that, she is currently enrolled in a postgraduate course on Gender Studies at University of Warsaw. Her doctoral project, entitled ‘Refugees and Gender in Poland: a discursive symbiosis or a social conflict’, studies images of refugees produced within the social imaginary related to gender as well as reproductions of gender within the context of ‘refugee crisis’. Her most important paper ‘Nationalism made in Poland: defending the dignity of Polish women against Muslim semen’ (2018) was presented at an international conference on ‘Impacts of Gender Discourse on Polish Politics, Society and Culture’ organised by University College London. Her research interests include nationalism, racism, post-colonialism as well as feminism and gender discourse in post-communist Poland. Aleksandra lives in Warsaw.

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