Abigail Skalka studies modern Polish history, the social relevance of the Catholic Church, and the politics of populist backsliders in the European Union. Her research has answered questions including how the EU can address its dual bad-actor problem in Poland and Hungary, whether pious individuals are more receptive to populist co-optation of religious rhetoric, and the threat of secularization facing the Polish Catholic Church. She is also interested in borderland identity formation and the development of Polish nationalism in the partition era.