Infected by elitism In Krytyka, No. 1-2 (75-76), 2004, pp. 29-30.

In this article, the author draws attention to the growth of elitist tendencies among contemporary intellectuals. They are increasingly focused on reflecting on their own conditions of existence, pushing the desire for social transformation into the background. Such elitism manifests itself in a strategy of symbolically distancing oneself from «others» and constructing a sense of intellectual superiority. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of irony as a self-sufficient rhetorical position that serves as a means of self-affirmation rather than critical analysis. The phenomenon of so-called «intellectual racism» is also considered—the categorical rejection of views and practices that do not correspond to the norms and ideas of a particular intellectual environment.