Unlike some Western European states, coming to power by parties defined as Green or Left in the countries of former Yugoslavia still represents certain political phenomenon. This feat was achieved in 2021 by the “Moramo” (We Must) movement in Zagreb, Croatia, and the subsequent experiences of managing the city were talked about on this occasion by Danijela Dolenec, professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and Deputy Mayor of Zagreb.
Dolenec first made an overview of the origins of the “Moramo” movement” and the process of connecting civil and political movements and organisations founded on the local level in Croatia in the last 15 years.
Then Prof Danijela Dolenec referred to the main communal political initiative that had been started (solving the problem of waste separation in the City of Zagreb), and used it to illustrate that the choice of a comprehensive subject such as that one, made it possible to simultaneously address ecology, consumerism, production and working conditions, but also to stimulate responsibility towards one’s environment and combat the auto-racist belief that one such endeavour was not possible in the Croatian society.
In the third part of her lecture, the assistant professor of political sciences at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb talked of the tension existing between the agenda of the leftist and progressive movement and the tools at the disposal of parties in power. As she explained, by following their ideals, the Left tends to democratise the power and government, thus creating a problem for itself in the political arena where the majority of other movements do not follow the same ideal, quite the opposite. Thus the Left in power not only has a progressive programme for which it needs to find support, but also needs to constantly develop different tools and/or change the existing institutions, which would eventually lead to deepening the main leftist principles of equality and freedom.
The lecture held on 6 September in the Institute of Social Sciences, was a part of the Regional Tea Party cycle entitled “The Left”, organised in cooperation with the Academic Network for Cooperation in South East Europe.
