Pankowski studied economy, politics, and philosophy at Oxford university as an undergraduate, and received a MA in Political Science from Warsaw University. He received his PhD, as well as subsequent habilitation, in sociology of culture from Warsaw as well.
Research
In 2010, Pankowski published The populist radical right in Poland: the patriots, covering the far-right in Poland. According to Richard Howitt, the book's credibility stems from a careful analysis of the "historical, economic and cultural factors" leading to the rise of Law and Justice and its links to far-right movements and parties. In the book, Pankowski makes the case that Polish conservatives were mistaken in ending the Cordon sanitaire attitude versus the Polish far-right as that allowed the far-right movement to grow. Accepting Cas Mudde's definition of populism in The Popular Zeitgeist: "populism is an ideology which states that society splits up into two antagonistic groups- the rotten elite and the pure masses. Populists think that politics should represent the general will of the people", as a starting point, Pankowski elaborates on the differentiation of populist movements that are successful. Pankowski states that "populist movements were successful where they chimed effectively with the common-sense everyday culture". In Poland, this means relating to Catholicism. In July 2018 he published a study in Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, titled The Resurgence of Antisemitic Discourse in Poland. In the study, Pankowski describes a "disturbing revival of antisemitism" in Poland following the passage of the Holocaust law that criminalized stating that the Polish state or nation was complicity in the Holocaust. The study states that the surge of antisemitic discourse in Poland took observers by surprise as relations between Poland and Israel were fruitful and cordial for many years. According to the study, while antisemitic discourse had been confined in the past to extreme media, at present such discourse in present in Polish mainstream media and in particular in state-controlled media. According to Pankowski prior to the Holocaust law "Muslims and foreigners had replaced Jews for many years as the main target for xenophobic hate", however in the aftermath of the law hate discourse reverted to traditional Jew hatred.
Anti-racism activist
In 1996, Pankowski was one of the founders of Never Again. In 2012, ahead of UEFA Euro 2012, Never Again launched one of the most extensive anti-racist campaigns in football. However, in 2016 Pankowski said that "unfortunately the Polish FA has hindered rather than helped the work". According to Pankowski most fan groups in Poland exhibit an anti-Muslim and anti-refugee attitude, which is reinforced by a conservative political climate in Poland. In a 2014 interview with Polygon, Pankowski analyzed the political associations of the development team of the Hatred video game, which according to Pankowski shows many connections to the radical right which are troubling. In 2017, Pankowski condemned the sale in the Parliament of Poland of "lucky Jew" figurines which depict Jews with money, as "deeply rooted in negative stereotypes". Following Pankowski's condemnation, the figurines were removed from sale. In 2018, Never Again convinced the Allegro site to halt sales of item bearing Nazi symbols, which Never Again report to Allegro. According to Pankowski "We can see that in our society and companies like Allegro there is a growing need to do something about the problem". In March 2018, Pankowski gave a speech at the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem in which he presented Polish antisemitic rhetoric following the Polish Holocaust law. Following the speech, Pankowski was threatened in online comments. The Israeli foreign ministry denounced the attacks, saying it was "very disturbed to see the anti-Semitic attacks on Rafal in Poland, following the tweet by the Adviser of Poland’s PM".
Awards and recognition
In 2017, he was awarded the Polish Ombudsman honorary badge. He also received the Polcul award for "pedagogical, journalistic and cultural activities for racial, ethnic and religious tolerance, as well as for building civil society and democracy in Poland". He was featured in Algemeiner Journal's 2018 J100 list, a "list of the top one hundred individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life". In 2019, he was awarded the Paul Ehrlich-Gunther K. Schwerin humans rights award by the Anti-Defamation League. The award honors people who fight antisemitism in Europe.
