Adam Michnik on intellectuals and populism

In an interview with Zsolt Ivan Nagy, Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of the Polish daily 'Gazeta Wyborcza' takes stock of developments over the past 15 years. "There were things that were beyond our control and we have failed in our attempts to convince society that the great danger now lies in the new wave of populism. Populism can manifest itself in the guise of post-communism or anti-communism. Resolute anti-communist populists sometimes join forces with post-communist populists, as was the case recently in Poland. This is a bad time for the entire Visegrad region [a group whose members are Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic]. We must make a clear diagnosis and look for a new way to convince our societies of the deceitfulness of populism. The task of convincing people of this can only be undertaken by intellectuals."

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