ABSTRACT
The chapter reflects on the relationship between human rights discourse and populism from a politico-philosophical and socio-legal position. In this perspective, human rights and politics are closely linked. These rights are vocalised in the political process and mediated by social institutions. Contemporary populism is founded on moralistic imagination based on an axis of elite-population division that leads to the necessity of a social transformation within which power and social resources will be redistributed. At the same time, such political rhetoric and practice emphasise its democratic character, which distinguishes it from simple authoritarianism. This leads to populism acceptance, at least rhetorically, of the universalist human rights discourse with the simultaneous need to change its content. The populist regime of Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) in the years 2015–2023 in Poland provides a useful case study in this regard. Populism's attitude towards human rights is not explicit and does not consist of simple rejection. Populism instead redefines the relationship between the community and individual rights through rhetoric that violates minority rights and policies that strengthen social rights and distributes recognition based on national identity. The populist government combines political, identity and economic rhetoric. New redistributive and social programs are framed as political and dignity issues. As a result, populism pursues its own, different from (but grown out of) liberal, more republican politics of human rights.
