Philosophy of the Praxis group and the Korcula Summer School as a site of remembrance

RLS International Conference is planned for 13-16 October 2011, on the island of Korcula (Korčula), Croatia. „Humanist Marxism“ meets „critical theory“: that’s how one could describe that intellectual forum, which was held at every August since 1963 by 1974, in Korcula Summer School. Herbert Marcuse, Ernst Bloch, Luicen Goldmann, Erich Fromm, Jürgen Habermas, Karel Kosik and Zygmunt Bauman are just a few of many important participants of the conference, organized by a Yugoslav „Praxis“ group, with the aim to encourage a dialog between critical intellectuals from East and West.

Crossing the lines of Cold War polarization, the participants of this forum explored the paths of emancipation. As for the Praxis group, at the heart of its philosophy were the rejection of dogmatic Soviet Marxism and the emphasis on the human subject as a creative force.

The conference planned for summer 2011 aims to reopen the discussion that was suppressed from the historical consciousness, not only in the former Yugoslavia, and to promote the Korcula Summer School as a European site of remembrance. This should contribute to the reconstruction and renewal of the emancipatory left in the former Yugoslavia. This event will be organized by the RLS Belgrade office and RLS Cultural Forum, along with former members of the Praxis group. Conference languages are Serbian/ Croatian and German.