Psychoanalysis AND/OR Marxism? Critique of Present Times
On December 6, 2026, the Institute of Philosophy ZRC SAZU hosted a public forum Psychoanalysis AND/OR Marxism? Critique of Present Times, organized on the occasion of the research visit of Lorenzo Chiesa from Newcastle University, UK.
Present times are times of incessant crises and increasing inequalities. It is hardly disputable that this predicament is dictated by capitalism as a concrete reality and our only hegemonically global discourse. What does it take to criticise a thus understood present? Assuming that both psychoanalysis, as a theory and practice of the unconscious, and Marxism, as a theory and practice of class struggle, individually remain valuable tools to contest the status quo, can they still form an effective alliance? Does the critique of libidinal economy remain compatible with that of political economy? Could an updated synergy between the two, as neo-Freudo-Marxism, promote change, more justice, and, in short, a better future?
