On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Yugoslav Marxist-philosophical journal Praxis, a roundtable discussion on “The future of uncompromising critique of everything that exists” was held on 19 December 2024 in the Council Hall of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb. The event was jointly organised by the Faculty of Philosophy and the Centre for Theoretical Research in the Humanities. Associate Professor Luka Bogdanić, Associate Professor Ankica Čakardić, Professor Hrvoje Jurić, Assistant Professor Goran Sunajko and Assistant Professor Mislav Žitko took part in the discussion.
The anniversary of Praxis provided an opportunity to explore topics related to the past and future of Marxist critique in the region, addressing various themes within the intellectual-historical tradition of the Praxis school. These included both positive and critical perspectives on the significance of the school. If ever there was a “golden age” for philosophy and theory in the former Yugoslavia, it was undoubtedly the period between 1963 and 1974, when the Korčula Summer School and the journal Praxis were active: two key initiatives launched by a group of Zagreb philosophers that would forever characterise the Yugoslav Praxis school. With its anti-dogmatic and creative Marxism, its philosophy of revolutionary thought, its humanist interpretation of socialism and its conception of universalist internationalism, the Praxis school is one of the most important intellectual traditions in the history of Yugoslavia.
The discussion at the round table was based on this premise and focussed in several contributions on topics such as Marxist aesthetics and ethics, the theoretical eclecticism of Gajo Petrović and Danko Grlić, the ecology of Rudi Supek, the ethics of Milan Kangrga and the phenomenon of “loyal critique” within the Praxis school. The discussion also provided a framework for possible critical readings of practise philosophy, especially from a feminist perspective, with reference to the Marxist feminism of Blaženka Despot, a philosopher closely associated with the Praxis school.