Professor at The European Graduate School

Srećko Horvat (b. 1983) is a philosopher, writer, and public intellectual whose work explores the intersections of critical theory, political philosophy, revolutionary thought and social movements. Praised by Der Freitag as “one of the most exciting voices of his generation,” Horvat is renowned for his ability to engage complex theoretical questions while remaining committed to real-world political transformation. The British journalist Andrew Anthony has described him as “the kind of free-ranging thinker who reminds you of Sartre’s observation about Nietzsche: ‘a poet who had the bad luck to be mistaken for a philosopher.”

Horvat studied philosophy and linguistics at Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb, where he was an active participant in the student occupations in the 2000s – an experience that would shape his intellectual focus on direct democracy, collective political action, and the power of public imagination. His academic and political formation is deeply intertwined with the socio-political upheavals of post-Yugoslav Croatia, where he was influenced both by continental philosophy and the region’s countercultural movements, including the hardcore punk scene and independent publishing culture.

Horvat is the author of over a dozen books, translated into more than fifteen languages. His work explores the philosophical dimensions of contemporary crises, from climate collapse to the radical potential of love and social autonomy.

In After the Apocalypse (Polity Press, 2021), Horvat examines the disintegration of the global order and the philosophical implications, influenced mainly by the work of Günther Anders, of living with multiple eschatological threats. The book has been described as a profound exploration of “the human condition in the wake of catastrophe.”

Poetry from the Future (Penguin, 2019) engages with the intersection of historical and contemporary political resistance and technological and fascist upheaval, calling for new forms of political imagination that transcend conventional understandings of time, space, and power. It has been called “a brilliant blend of speculative thought and critical theory.”

In The Radicality of Love (Polity Press, 2015), Horvat explores love as a transformative force in political thought, offering a novel reading of the connections between critical theory, psychoanalysis, and the politics of solidarity. Renowned sociologist Eva Illouz praised the book as “a bold and necessary work of philosophy that reclaims love as an ethical and political imperative for our time.”

Horvat is also the co-author of What Does Europe Want? The Union and its Discontents (Columbia University Press, 2013), written with Slavoj Žižek. The book critiques the trajectory of European politics and offers a radical reimagining of the European project as a site for democratic renewal.

In addition to his solo works, Horvat has co-edited several books, including Everything Must Change!: The World after Covid-19 (OR Books, 2021) bringing together influential voices such as Brian Eno, Larry Charles, Roger Waters, Saskia Sassen, Astra Taylor, Shoshana Zuboff, David Graeber, Saša Savanović, Kenneth Goldsmith, and others; and, together with Igor Štiks, he also co-edited the volume Welcome to the Desert of Post-Socialism: Radical Politics after Yugoslavia Europe (Verso, 2015).

His essays and commentaries have appeared in major international outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Granta, Newsweek, and Al Jazeera.

Horvat is a founding member of the Subversive Festival (2008-2013) in Zagreb, which has grown into one of the central meeting points for critical thinkers, artists, and activists from both Europe and the Global South. The festival has hosted numerous influential guests, including Oliver Stone, David Harvey, Samir Amin, Zygmunt Bauman, Gayatri Spivak, Aleida Guevara and others, becoming a vital platform for radical political discourse and philosophical inquiry in the post-Yugoslav region.

In 2014, Horvat initiated Philosophical Theatre at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, a project that reimagines the traditional role of theatre as a space for philosophical reflection. The series has hosted thinkers and artists such as Julia Kristeva, Vanessa Redgrave, Thomas Piketty, M.I.A., Herta Müller, Slavoj Žižek, and many others, bringing together philosophy and performance to address the political challenges of our time.

Horvat’s engagement with the performing arts also includes his early work with the interdisciplinary performance collective Shadow Casters (Bacači Sjenki), as well as his more recent curatorial collaborations with major institutions, including Wiener Festwochen and Berlin’s Volksbühne. These projects explore theatre as a political laboratory for philosophical and artistic experimentation.

In addition to his cultural work, Horvat has been a leading figure in transnational political movements. Together with Greece’s former finance minister and economist Yanis Varoufakis, he co-founded DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025), and he later helped launch the Progressive International.

Together with his collective, Horvat is currently mainly dedicated to the Island School of Social Autonomy (ISSA) on the Croatian island of Vis – a place of radical education and self-education in the midst of the Adriatic Sea.

Books

― After the Apocalypse, Polity Press, 2021
― Everything Must Change! The World After Covid-19, co-edited with Renata Avila, OR
Books, 2021
― Poetry from the Future, Penguin, 2019
― Radicality of Love, Polity Press, 2015
― What Does Europe Want? The Union and its Discontents with Slavoj Žižek, Columbia
University Press, 2014
― Welcome to the Desert of Postsocialism: Radical Politics after Yugoslavia, co-edited with
Igor Štiks, Verso, 2014
― Pravo na pobunu, with Igor Štiks, Fraktura, 2010
― Ljubav za početnike, Naklada Ljevak, 2009
― Totalitarizam danas, Antibarbarus, 2008

― Diskurs terorizma, AGM, 2008
― Budućnost je ovdje. Svijet distopijskog filma, Croatian Film Association, 2008
― Protiv političke korektnosti. Od Kramera do Laibacha, i natrag, Biblioteka XX. Vek, 2007
― Znakovi postmodernog grada, Jesenski i Turk, 2007

Movies

― Durch die Nacht mit… Pamela Anderson & Srećko Horvat, ARTE, 2019
― documentary film: The Business of Colonization (Part 1) & Europe's Forbidden Colony
(Part 2) , Al Jazeera, 2016