New Conservatives in Russia and East Central Europe

<p>This book explores the emergence and in Poland Hungary and Russia the coming to power of politicians and political parties rejecting the consensus around market reforms democratization and rule of law that has characterized moves toward an open society from the 1990s. It discusses how over the last decade these political actors together with various think tanks intellectual circles and religious actors have increasingly presented themselves as conservatives and outlines how these actors are developing a new local brand of conservatism as a full-fledged ideology that counters the perceived liberal overemphasis on individual rights and freedom and differs from the ideology of the established present-day conservative parties of Western Europe. Overall the book argues that the renaissance of conservatism in these countries represents variations on a new illiberal conservatism that aims to re-establish a strong state sovereignty defining and pursuing a national path of development.</p>