Novi Plamen

Novi Plamen, whose name translates as “The New Flame,” is a left-wing political, social and cultural journal associated with Zagreb-based publisher Demokratska misao. The publication was conceived for intellectually oriented readers and developed a regional perspective unusually broad for a periodical operating in the post-Yugoslav space. Rather than limiting itself to one national public, it sought to connect debates and contributors from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the wider diaspora. The journal’s editorial focus has included political theory, social justice, peace studies, democratisation, political economy, history, sociology, philosophy, demographics, international relations and cultural criticism. Its approach has been interdisciplinary and explicitly concerned with both the possibilities and the obstacles facing more democratic, egalitarian and humane forms of social organisation. It has also been associated with early advocacy of animal rights and animal liberation in the region. Novi Plamen was published and distributed primarily through kiosks, while its publishing framework was provided by Demokratska misao. Its editors-in-chief have included Mladen Jakopović, who also used the pseudonym Daniel Jakopovich, Ivica Mladenović and Professor Goran Marković. The journal assembled an advisory board containing prominent international left-wing figures, including Noam Chomsky, Slavoj Žižek, Ken Coates, John McDonnell, Michael Löwy and Jean Ziegler, alongside politicians, academics, writers and cultural figures from South-East Europe. The title invokes the earlier Croatian left-wing magazine Plamen, published in 1919 under the editorship of Miroslav Krleža and August Cesarec. It also recalls Karl Kraus’s German-language magazine Die Fackel, or “The Torch.” These references place Novi Plamen within a tradition of politically engaged, critical periodical publishing rather than conventional commercial lifestyle media. The journal became known for bringing together intellectuals from different successor states of Yugoslavia and for challenging nationalist fragmentation. Reporting in the Serbian newspaper Danas described it as a significant left-wing publication covering the whole ex-Yugoslav territory and as a forum for reconnecting dispersed South Slavic intellectual communities. Its contributors have included politicians, journalists, academics, writers and public intellectuals, among them former Croatian president Ivo Josipović, Nobel Prize-winning writer Dario Fo, Slavoj Žižek, Jan Pronk, Richard Jolly, Stuart Holland, Igor Mandić, Todor Kuljić, Antun Vujić, Biljana Borzan and Predrag Matvejević. Novi Plamen has also participated in public and academic initiatives. In November 2007, it and Demokratska misao co-organised an international conference in Zagreb on participation, self-management and democracy with the Left International Forum of Sweden’s Left Party. The journal has been closely associated with the Belgrade progressive think tank Laboratorija progresivnih ideja Dimitrije Tucović, which has republished much of its material. It also attracted attention for publishing a list of political prisoners interned at the Goli Otok labour camp during the 1950s. The publication has presented itself as a product of political socialisation after the collapse of Yugoslavia and has distinguished its perspective from repressive or undemocratic currents associated with the “Old Left.” Novi Plamen was reported to have received co-financing from Croatia’s Ministry of Culture. Its later publication status is not established by the supplied sources.

Novi Plamen emerged as a politically engaged journal connected with the Zagreb publishing company Demokratska misao. Its title, meaning “The New Flame,” refers to the Croatian left-wing magazine Plamen, which appeared in 1919 under Miroslav Krleža and August Cesarec, and also evokes Karl Kraus’s Die Fackel. The historical references signal a commitment to critical, oppositional publishing and to the use of journalism and essays as instruments of political and cultural debate. The journal’s distinctive remit was regional. It addressed readers throughout the former Yugoslavia and among the related diaspora, attempting to create a shared forum after the political, social and intellectual fragmentation that followed Yugoslavia’s dissolution. Its editorial work brought together contributors from several successor states and combined political analysis with cultural criticism, philosophy, sociology, history, economics, demographics, peace studies and international relations. The publication consequently operated less like a narrowly national political review and more like a transnational post-Yugoslav intellectual platform. Its editors-in-chief have included Mladen Jakopović, also known by the pseudonym Daniel Jakopovich, Ivica Mladenović and Goran Marković. Novi Plamen was largely sold through newspaper kiosks, while its institutional publishing relationship with Demokratska misao supplied an organisational base. It also maintained an online presence through an official website and blog. The supplied sources do not establish a definitive founding year or confirm the journal’s current publication status. The publication developed a reputation for presenting left-wing perspectives that were critical not only of capitalism, nationalism and social inequality, but also of authoritarian and undemocratic traditions within the historical left. It has been described as a project of people whose political formation took place after the fall of former Yugoslavia. This generational orientation helped distinguish the journal from nostalgic or unreconstructed forms of communist politics. Its programme instead emphasised democratisation, social justice, peace, participation and the search for a more humane political order. Novi Plamen’s advisory board included internationally recognised left-wing thinkers and politicians such as Noam Chomsky, Slavoj Žižek, Ken Coates, John McDonnell, Michael Löwy and Jean Ziegler. Its wider network included Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and other South-East European academics, writers, politicians and cultural figures. Contributors named in reference material include Ivo Josipović, Dario Fo, Jan Pronk, Richard Jolly, Stuart Holland, Igor Mandić, Todor Kuljić, Predrag Matvejević, Antun Vujić, Biljana Borzan, Rastko Močnik and others. The journal’s activities extended beyond issue publication. In November 2007, Novi Plamen and Demokratska misao organised the Zagreb conference “Participation, Self-management, Democracy” together with the Left International Forum of the Swedish Left Party. The event reflected the journal’s interest in democratic participation and alternative institutional models. Novi Plamen was also closely linked to the Belgrade-based Laboratorija progresivnih ideja Dimitrije Tucović, a progressive politics and economics think tank that republished a substantial amount of material originating in the journal. One particularly notable intervention was the publication of a list of political prisoners held at the Goli Otok labour camp in the 1950s. The list attracted considerable attention in media across the region and illustrated the journal’s willingness to address politically sensitive historical subjects. Novi Plamen was also identified as one of the early publications in the region to advocate animal rights and animal liberation. Its scope was therefore both historical and contemporary, spanning memory politics, social movements, political theory and cultural criticism. The journal received co-financing assistance from the Croatian Ministry of Culture. A reference account describes a 2013 issue extending to 342 pages, indicating the substantial scale of at least some editions. Whether the journal continued publishing after the period covered by the available references remains unclear. The official website is available as a reference point, but no verified current operating status is supplied here.

• 2013

  Publication of a 342-page issue

  [1]Novi Plamenen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material notes that the 2013 issue reached 342 pages, illustrating the journal’s extensive and interdisciplinary format.

• 2007

  International conference on participation and democracy

  [1]Novi Plamenen.wikipedia.org

  Novi Plamen and Demokratska misao co-organised the Zagreb conference Participation, Self-management, Democracy with the Left International Forum of the Swedish Left Party.

A region-wide, intellectually oriented left-wing journal connecting political, social and cultural debates across the former Yugoslavia and its diaspora.

• Political and cultural periodical

  Novi Plamen journal

  The core publication is a left-wing journal covering politics, culture, peace, social justice, democratisation and political economy. Its issues also draw on sociology, philosophy, history, demographics, international relations and cultural criticism. The journal’s defining feature is its post-Yugoslav regional scope, bringing together writers and researchers from across the successor states and diaspora rather than focusing on a single national audience.

• Digital publishing

  Novi Plamen online platforms

  The Novi Plamen publishing identity has also been represented through an official website and blog. These online outlets provide a digital extension of the journal’s essays, commentary and associated materials. The supplied sources do not provide enough information to determine the platforms’ current activity, editorial schedule or exact relationship to the print edition.

• 2007Participation, Self-management, Democracy conference

  Croatia · South-East Europe · International left-wing intellectual networks

  Novi Plamen and its publisher Demokratska misao convened an international scientific conference in Zagreb with the Left International Forum of the Swedish Left Party. The programme reflected the journal’s interest in democratic participation, self-management and alternative approaches to political organisation.

  Outcome. The conference established a public and academic activity associated with the journal beyond its regular periodical publishing.

  Source

1. 1Novi Plamenen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Novi Plamen official websitenoviplamen.org
3. 3A History of Modern Political Thought in East Central Europe: Volume IIglobal.oup.com