Populism has reshaped political competition in Europe, prompting the rise of actors who explicitly define themselves as its challengers. The Czech Republic represents one of the recent cases of successful anti-populist mobilization reshaping the logic of the party system competition. These anti-populist politicians construct a populism/anti-populism divide by portraying populists as emotional, irrational, and polarizing, while presenting themselves as rational, civil, and committed to democracy and knowledge. Yet, the actual content and style of their communication suggest a more complex picture. Anti-populist actors not only build a positive “us” identity around values such as civility, expertise, and democratic responsibility but also a negative “them” identity that emphasizes the threat of populism. In doing so, their messaging often incorporates elements of negativity and emotionality, echoing some of the very stylistic features they claim to oppose. This dual strategy has implications for political polarization and online engagement. While anti-populist appeals to knowledge and rationality seek to foster depolarization, their reliance on emotional criticism and identity-based contrasts may instead reinforce divisions. On social media, such communication triggers user engagement, with audiences reacting both through positive appraisals and through emotionally charged responses that highlight their own political identities. Anti-populism in Czechia, therefore, should not be understood merely as a rational counterweight to populism but as a dynamic style that blends fact-based arguments with emotional and identity-driven appeals. This raises broader questions about whether anti-populism mitigates polarization or, paradoxically, contributes to it by deepening the antagonistic logic of the populism/anti-populism divide. In this lecture, I will explore how anti-populist politicians in Czechia construct and communicate their identity, how these messages resonate with audiences on social media, and what this reveals about the role of anti-populism in shaping political polarization today.

Speaker

Vlastimil Havlík, Université Masaryk

Chair 

Jan Rovny, Sciences Po, CEE