Understanding the Rise of Illiberal Populism in Central and Eastern Europe. Insights from Scholarship Influenced by Karl Polanyi

The illiberal turn marked by the rejection of the main tenets of political, cultural, and (to some extent) economic liberalism poses a serious threat to the liberal status quo which emerged in CEE after 1989. We maintain that embracing the concept of countermovement derived from the thought of Karl Polanyi provides valuable insights into comprehending the dynamics of this socio-political phenomenon. In this introduction, we sketch the general background for the papers included in the symposium. We start by outlining the core features of market transitions and discussing briefly the leading research strands inspired by Polanyi’s ideas. Then we try to demonstrate how the legacy of Polanyi’s thought could be useful in understanding the contemporary ascent of illiberal populism. In our view, the chief advantage of Polanyian scholarship lies in its ability to account for the interdependence of economic (or global) and cultural (or local) causes of populist reaction.