Abstract
Petar Bojanić develops the concept of the ‘victorious mind’ as an essential product of European modernity.
According to Bojanić, ‘victory’ is not limited to the question of sovereignty or social struggle: it should be considered a ‘meta-institutional protocol’. At the ‘pre-institutional’ stage, antagonism is viewed as a transcendental principle of relations between subjects and objects. At the institutional and meta-institutional stages, antagonism is characterised as inherent in all possible relations between social actors.
The very modern idea of the social is based on various antagonisms that precede open and direct social or military conflicts. The victorious mind is considered the supra-institutional actor capable of transforming institutions and changing laws (in the sense of sovereignty), discriminating between ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, and controlling the project of absolute victory.
Bojanić suggests that, in the current institutional crisis, we need to overcome the ‘victorious mind’, which is seen as destructive and discriminatory.
Discussant: Evgeny Blinov
Programme
Friday, 12 June 2026
16:15 – 16:20 Opening
16:20 – 16:50 Masumi Nagasaka
16:50 – 17:20 Abudjana H. E. Babiker
17:20 – 17:40 Break
17:40 – 18:10 Evgeny Blinov
18:10 – 18:40 Petar Bojanić
18:40 – 19:40 Discussion (Questions and Answers)
19:40 – 19:45 Closing
Main Speaker
Petar Bojanić
Professor, University of Belgrade
Discussants
Evgeny Blinov / Abudjana H. E. Babiker / Masumi Nagasaka
Date & Time
Friday, 12, June 2026, 16:15 – 19:45
Venue
Building 26, Basement, Multi-purpose lecture room,
Waseda Campus, Waseda University
Prospected Audience
Students, Graduate students, Faculty members, Research members, General Participants
Language
English
Organiser
Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS)
Registration
Pre-registration required: https://forms.gle/9nwGoTnA7xSvaqLe8