Bulletin Philosophy and Society 2023-34/4
The fourth and last issue of the journal Philosophy and Society for 2023 (Philosophy and Society 34/4) brings forth a thematic section under the title “Democratic Socialism” Reassesed: Insights from Yugoslavia’s Experience to Global Trends. Additionally, this issue also contains three original scientific papers on the Yugoslavian wars and the attitude of minorities towards the disintegration of the state, social freedom and dignity of the individual in the philosophy of Nikolay Berdyaev as well as the Epicurean view on the validity of sensation.
The thematic issue “Democratic Socialism” Reassesed: Insights from Yugoslavia’s Experience to Global Trends opens with Filip Balunović’s and Ivica Mladenović‘s article entitled “Reflecting the Past, Envisioning the Future: The Journey of ‘Democratic Socialism’.” Apart from exploring “the evolution of socialism as a political ideology”, the authors investigate the current interest in the alternative socialist model known as “democratic socialism”, and argue that a radically democratic socialist project should be constructed as an alternative to today’s socio-economic-ecological challenges.
In their paper “The Rise and Fall of Democratic Socialism in Yugoslavia 1948-1972.,” Milivoj Bešlin and Petar Žarković analyze the internal political dynamics and leadership strategies of Yugoslavia, with a particular focus on the second half of the 1960s as a period which has received less scholarly attention. The authors particularly explore the interplay between domestic policies and international influences and offer a comprehensive view of the Yugoslav socialist experiment.
In “Who Were the Liberals and Conservatives in Yugoslavia in the Late 1960s and Early 1970s? Conflict between Centrist Factions,” Marino Badurina questions conventional political classifications, highlighting the intertwined nature of nationalism and socialism in the Yugoslav context of the late 1960s and the early 1970s, and refers to the development of collectivist ethnic nationalism. Through delving into the liberal-conservative entaglement, the author presents a complex picture of events, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of historical causality and human identity within the socialist prism instead of offering definite anwers.
Through applying comparative methods to the results of archival researches conducted on historical sources, Luka Filipović investigates the the cooperation between Yugoslav, Italian and French communists at various time points during the twenty year long period in his article “Yugoslav Communists and European Far-Left – From First Supporters of Italian Eurocommunists to Last Allies of French Neo-Stalinists (1965-1985).” In order to place these studies in an appropriate socio-historical context, the author enriches the study with insights from the fields of history, sociology, and philosophy.
“Global China, (Former) Yugoslavia, and Socialism” by Anastas Vangeli explores socialism in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) through the critical analysis of power, capitalism, and hegemony. While the interaction with and reflection on socialist Yugoslavia has significantly impacted how China has navigated through geopolitical complexities and implemented reforms, Vangeli argues, contemporary interactions between Yugoslav successor states and China is guided more by geo-economic considerations than socialist ideals.
In “The Alternative to Capitalism – Democratic Protagonism in the 21st Century”, Katarina Peovićfocuses on the advantages and disadvantages of Marx’s and Engels’s Communist Manifesto for a project which would represent an alternative to capitalism. Peović argues that for a social change requires a consideration of the agency of the working class and that the transformation of social relations simultaniously represents a change of the actors themselves, that is, of socialist protagonists.
The section Studies and Articles opens with Aleksandar Pavlović’s paper “The Spectres of the Yugoslav Wars: Minorities’ Response to State Disintegration.” In reconsidering this question, Pavlović claims that the actions of minorities in times of political crises, should be determined as a drive towards ethnic self-determination. In that sense, the author also examines the reverting of minorities to war in former Yugoslavia as an expression of nationalist revolt.
In his article “Social Freedom and Dignity of the Human Person According to Nikolai Berdyaev”, Romilo Aleksandar Knežević maintains that European humanism, simultaniously through denying the metaphysical nature of the human being, does not only elevate the human being but also debases it since it produces it as a slave of natural necessity. Following the thought of the Russian religious philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev, the author argues that “true human dignity comes from true freedom“ and that it leads to creative activity. Accordingly, true freedom is capable not only of creatively transforming the human society but also of creating a new world.
Jelena Pavličić and Ivan Nišavić, finally, question the idea that we have good reasons to defend the Epicurean view of the validity of sensation on the basis of a contextual reading of the content of perception in their “Epicurean View on the Validity of Sensation: On the Contextual Reading of the Content of the Perception.” The authors argue that the contextual reading of perceptual content is not a viable model for reliably distinguishing truth from falsity, apart from the fact that it is not adequately supported by the available textual evidence of Epicurean empiricist epistemology.
