Summary
Bogdan Denić: Hardening of Identity: Autobiography and the Story of the Democratic Left in Two States
Hardening of Identity: Autobiography and the Story of the Democratic Left in Two States by Bogdan Denić (1929 – 2016) bears witness to a life shaped at the crossroads of countries, languages and ideologies. Sociologist, political theorist, university professor and activist, one of the founders of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and a significant figure in the peace movement during the Yugoslav wars of the nineties, Denić spent most of his life between the United States of America and first Yugoslavia, then Serbia and Croatia — between theory and political practice, hope and disappointment. This autobiography is not a sentimental look back, but a reflection on a century and its ideological fractures. Denic's perspective, shaped by the experience of activism and academic work, but also by tireless life energy and joy of action, offers an insight into the fate of the democratic left and raises questions about the possibility of connecting social justice with political freedom. At a time when political positions are often reduced to slogans, Hardening Identity reminds us that opinion can be a courageous political act, that citizenship is not a given, but a constant call to act with passion, curiosity and faith in the possibility of change.
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