Petrovic, Gajo

(1927– )

   A major Marxist theorist of the 20th century, Petrovic was a leading member of the Yugoslav “Praxis” school of Marxism. He studied at the University of Zagreb receiving a PhD in philosophy from there in 1956, and he worked as a lecturer and then professor at Zagreb throughout his career. He has written numerous books and articles, his most famous book being Marx in the Mid-Twentieth Century (1967), and he edited the influential journal Praxis for many years. Petrovic’s Marxism is humanist in character and emphasizes Marx’s theory of alienation. For Petrovic human beings are essentially conscious, creative, and free, an essence which is not expressed or developed in the course of their labor in capitalist society. The notion of praxis embodies the view that human beings create and change both the world they live in and themselves through their self-creative activity, and this distinguishes us from other animals. Marxist revolution, according to Petrovic, aims to abolish self-alienation through praxis, and to create a truly human society characterized by the free creative activity of human beings.