From Yugoslav Praxis to Global Pathos

McBride offers a significant critical intervention into what is now recognized as a largely post-Marxian, at times liberal and at times conservative, spirit of the day, an intervention marked by writing against the post-Marxist hegemonic mainstream. Just as the Yugoslav philosophers did in their heyday ( from the Korcula Summer School to the gatherings at Dubrovnik's Inter-University Center), so too does McBride accentuate praxis as well as theoretical reflection on the present age. This marks his work with the pathos of a living philosophy. Like his previous volume, Philosophical Reflections on the Changes in Eastern Europe (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), this book undertakes a most important goal, namely, to offer an informed critical assessment of Central and Southern Europe. But unlike its predecessor, this book is distinguished by situating various discussions of globalizations and neonationalist wars against the backdrop of the history, development, and demise of Praxis Philosophy - the one-time bridge betweeen the progressive forces of former Yugoslavia and various East-West initiatives (e.g. the founding of the journal, Praxis International, which was changed to Constellations in the wake of civil war in Yugoslavia).