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cisively to the disintegration of the elite's self-confidence. It might be said
that the intellectuals were the gravediggers of institutionalized Marxism.
Their anti-authoritarianism and rejection of utopian paradigms generated
a political style based on trust and dialogue that helped the revolutions
avoid violence and bloodshed. Now, their merits are being questioned
by individuals with no oppositional history, whose unique credentials are
that they know how to take advantage of bandwagon opportunities.
The fact that the critical intelligentsia embraced an individualistic
ethos, rather than an egalitarian-collectivistic one, influenced to a great
extent the democratic orientation of the revolutionary changes. The in–
tellectuals of the intelligentsia assumed that by detecting the pitfalls of
Marxist historicism and its totalitarian potential, they had annulled the
seductive factors in all ideologies. This, it turns out, was an illusion. In
the post-Communist world, many people are attracted by inchoate and
often dangerous authoritarian creeds. We see doctrines emerging that are
linked to racism, rabid nationalism, and social corporatism. Do intellec–
tuals still matter in the post-Communist political world? Or is Leszek
Kolakowski correct when he observes in
Modernity on Endless Trial
that
the intelligentsia's disillusionment with redemptive-apocalyptical teleolo–
gies has led it to retreat from taking prophetic stands? Kolakowski notes:
There is much less willingness to offer unconditional support to ex–
isting ideologies and more inclination to keep a distance from po–
litical matters, with a consequent tendency to withdraw into more
secured and specialized areas. As a result we probably now have fewer
influential lunatics and swindlers, but also fewer intellectual teachers.
Personally, I believe that intellectuals do have an opportunity to be
directly involved in the reshaping of the public sphere in these countries.
The current debates, primarily the attempts at historical revisionism and
ethnic scapegoating, offer to intellectuals a vital role as civic pedagogues.
They approach today's disquieting situations armed with their own four
decades' experience of humiliations, self-flagellations, and moral
resurrections. They come as propagators of the unconventional wisdom,
as taboo-breakers and practitioners of a different political art.
For as long as there is no political class, as long as political parties
are unable to formulate distinct interests in the light of distinct ideolo–
gies, intellectuals will still be needed to continue the democratic transi–
tion. Their awareness of their own indispensability explains why Havel
still lives in Hradcany Castle and why Nicolae Manolescu, Romania's
foremost literary critic and head of the Civic Alliance Party, decided to
