“Socialist intellectuals must build their own journals and centres; they cannot remain wholly dependent on established institutions.” — E. P. Thompson
The defeat of the revolutionary movements of the twentieth century and the capitalist restructuring that accelerated from the 1970s onwards produced a widespread mood of crisis and despair.
Postmodernism, post-structuralism and their accompanying vocabularies obscured material reality, while “left liberalism” opened space for class compromise.
In Turkey, the neoliberal policies implemented after the 1980 military coup eroded workers’ gains, and a significant part of the intelligentsia adopted an ambiguous position in this process.
Praksis is the unity of theory and practice. The journal is conceived both as a theoretical project and as a form of action.
Our aims: to counter the theoretical distortion of Marxist concepts, to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of historical materialism for Turkey, to rebuild the link between the social sciences and social reality, and to open a publishing channel for scholars committed to labour and socialism.
We have set out on the Praksis journey.