UNDERSTANDING THE NEO-NATIONALISM PHENOMENON IN EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES: IDEOLOGY, MOBILIZATION, AND TRANSFORMATION OF DEMOCRATIC POLITICS

Abstract

Neo-nationalism has emerged as the defining ideological force reshaping East European politics in the twenty-first century. Distinct from nineteenth-century nationalism or Cold War anti-communism, contemporary neo-nationalism combines assertions of national sovereignty with cultural conservatism, anti-immigration policies, and skepticism toward supranational institutions (particularly the EU). This article examines the neo-nationalist phenomenon across East European countries—Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Western Balkans—analyzing its ideological foundations, social bases, mobilization strategies, and transformative effects on democratic institutions and practices. We argue that neo-nationalism represents not merely a political movement but a comprehensive alternative vision of governance, identity, and international relations that challenges liberal-democratic consensus and threatens democratic consolidation. Understanding neo-nationalism requires examining economic grievances, cultural anxieties, historical traumas, geopolitical insecurities, and the organizational capacities of neo-nationalist political entrepreneurs. The article concludes that addressing neo-nationalism's political dominance requires not dismissal but serious engagement with underlying grievances while defending democratic institutions against anti-democratic nationalist capture.