Populizm religijny w Polsce – przypadek Radia Maryja. Społeczne uwarunkowania zjawiska

Abstrakt

Religious populism in Poland – the case of Radio Maryja. Social determinants of the phenomenon


Populist tendencies on the grounds of the Polish Catholic Church were common in the 1990s, nowadays they are characteristic only of some of its areas, including the Radio Maryja Movement. It seems that the term religious fundamentalism used by some publicists and researchers is not really adequate to this phenomenon. That is why it is necessary to elaborate a theoretical model, which would be able to describe these tendencies, including political mobilization of religiously engaged people. In the article, there was suggested the concept of religious populism. The main designation of this term is the Radio Maryja Movement. This
movement is characterized by two typical features – anti-elitism and popular character of religiosity. The Radio Maryja Movement has a local, particular character and it does not have a specific ideological structure. There is rather a mix of different conceptions, myths and fears. The sources of this phenomenon should be looked for in discontent of some social groups, who either lost on structural transformation or the transformation itself engendered their fear of social and economic degradation.