Workers\u2019 self-management was one of the unique features of communist Yugoslavia. It pre\u00advailed, though not without challenges. Goran Musi\u0107 has investigated the changing ways in which blue-collar workers perceived the recurring crises of the regime. Two self-managed metal enterprises\u2014one in Serbia, another in Slovenia\u2014provide the framework of the anal\u00adysis between 1945 and 1989. These two factories became famous for strikes in 1988 that evoked echoes in popular discourses in former Yugoslavia. Drawing on interviews, factory publications and other media, local archives, and secondary literature, Musi\u0107 analyzes the two cases, going beyond the clich\u00e9s of political manipulation from the top and workers\u2019 intrinsic attraction to nationalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The author explains how, in the later phase of communist Yugoslavia, growing social inequalities among the workers and undemocratic practices inside the self-managed enterprises facilitated the spread of a nationalist and pro-market ideology on the shop floors. Yet rather than being a mass taken advantage of by populist leaders, the working class Musi\u0107 presents is one with agency and voice, a force that played an important role in shaping the fate of the country.\u00a0\u00a0The book thus seeks to open a debate on the social processes leading up to the dissolution of Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Table of contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Figures and Tables INTRODUCTION Mighty Elites and Subservient Workers CHAPTER ONE. TWO ROADS TO SELF-MANAGING SOCIALISM CHAPTER TWO. FACTORY STRUCTURES AND EVERYDAY LIFE UNDER ASSOCIATED LABOR CHAPTER THREE. SHADES OF BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS CHAPTER FOUR. THE DRAGGING CRISIS, 1979\u20131986 CHAPTER FIVE. BREAKING THE PACT: WORKERS, LIBERALS, AND NATIONALISTS AGAINST THE STATUS QUO CHAPTER SIX. MOBILIZATIONS AT THE BOTTOM\u2014REALIGNMENTS AT THE TOP, 1986\u20131988 CHAPTER SEVEN. WORKERS IN THE STREETS CONCLUSION Bibliography Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Goran Musi\u0107 hat ein umfangreiches und beeindruckendes Werk vorgelegt, dass mit scharfen Analysen unter anderem die Konkurrenz zwischen Unternehmen sowie die daraus mangelnde Solidarit\u00e4t unter Arbeiter:innen unterschiedlicher Betriebe herausarbeitet. Er zeigt auch, dass die Strukturen der Selbstverwaltung keine Organisationsformen f\u00fcr den Ausdruck ihrer Unzufriedenheit boten; der Streik wurde jenseits dieser Gremien organisiert. Dabei beweist er auch immer Talent f\u00fcr spannende Erz\u00e4hlungen und die Auswahl anschaulicher Interviewzitate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/kritisch-lesen.de\/rezension\/unruhe-in-der-selbstverwaltung<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a pathbreaking and highly original book. Based on in-depth research on two factories, Musi\u0107 convincingly argues for the importance of class and labor in explaining the demise of socialism in Yugoslavia and the breakup of the country. It also highlights the vital relationship between working-class grievances and populism, an issue still highly topical today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the first documented history of labor in Tito\u2019s Yugoslavia that draws on a wide range of sources, Making and Breaking the Yugoslav Working Class represents a milestone for the historiography of the region. Capturing the diversity of the Yugoslav labor force in the country\u2019s turbulent 1980s, Musi\u0107 demonstrates that, rather than being a mass easily manipulated by nationalist or populist politicians, Yugoslavia\u2019s workers were actors in their own right. By restoring the voice of the working class in history, this book not only adds to labor history but reshapes Yugoslav studies and studies of state collapse more broadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abbreviations
Acknowledgments<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfulfilled Expectations<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Re)Discovering Labor
Approaching Class and Nation in a Yugoslav Factory
Sources and Chapter Overview<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two Blue-Collar Communities
Differing Origins
\u201cFactories to the Workers\u201d
Market Socialism
Losing Factory Unity<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reviving Revolution through Normative Acts
The More Things Change
Claiming Tito
The Factory as a Collective<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proletariat in the Making
Who Creates Value?
Skill, Gender, and Place of Origin
Veterans and the Youth
Appendix 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sudden Breakdown
The Party at an Impasse
TAM\u2019s Pushback of Associated Labor
IMR Tries to Catch Up<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cutting out the Middlemen
The Stolen Golden Apples
The Diligent Ones
Appendix 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reaching Beyond the Factory Gates
A \u201cFirm Hand\u201d Inside Serbia
Bypassing the Working Class in Slovenia
Beggar Thy Neighbor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two Outlets in Rakovica
Deus Ex Machina
Maribor\u2019s Blue-Collar Wrath
Post Festum<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Unsettled Working Class
Liberal and Collectivist Self-Management
In Search of Allies and Enemies
Unanticipated Changes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Index<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nkritisch-lesen.de<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ulf Brunnbauer, University of Regensburg<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, University of Glasgow<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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