In Search of a New Ideology

The chapter shows that despite the adoption of Western norms in the official sphere, the populist criticism of this pro-European trajectory with its concomitant economic and administrative policies became increasingly central to domestic politics. The “culture wars” erupting in the late 1990s and early 2000s were rooted in the radicalization of conservativism, questioning the legitimacy of post-transition regimes. In turn, the left also underwent a profound reconfiguration, with the mainstream post-communists becoming fervent advocates of liberalization and the emerging new left, feminism, and environmentalism becoming increasingly anti-liberal. The book closes with an overview of the symbolic geographical debates on Europeanness, and also registers the growth of Euroskepticism after 2000. Critically engaging with the application of postcolonial theory in discussions on the region’s relationship to the West it also points to the cyclical occurrences of discourses on “catching up” and alienation which seem to indicate a longue durée regional pattern.