This book presents a critical history of Yugoslav socialist economics, from its inception in the late 1940s to its dissolution in the late 1980s. After the dramatic break with the Soviet Union in 1948, Yugoslavia found itself in urgent need of a third way: A socialist trajectory which would not resemble the Soviet model nor succumb to the imperatives of capitalist modernization. This monumental historical task resulted in the gradual constitution of the system of socialist self-management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This book is the first to provide a systematic response to key questions about this specifically Yugoslav form of socialist economics: How did it develop? How was it consolidated into a productive and influential academic discipline? What were the theoretical concerns and empirical procedures used by economists in order to create a modern scientific discipline and advance the cause of socialist Yugoslavia? And finally, how did this body of work enter a terminal crisis and disappear simultaneously with the country itself? Even given its failure, socialist Yugoslavia constitutes one of the more important and sustained twentieth-century attempts at building socialism. Thus, the Yugoslav way of thinking remains relevant for contemporary topics such as economic democracy, comparative economic systems and post-capitalist economic models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This book will appeal to all readers interested in the history of economics, economic sociology, political economy, the history of Yugoslavia and socialist debates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n List of tables<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Acknowledgements <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/strong>. Introduction: Socialist Economics in Yugoslavia<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2<\/strong>. The genealogy of the Yugoslav model<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3<\/strong>. The political economy of socialism<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/strong>. Workers gonna work it out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5<\/strong>. Out with the old, in with the new<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/strong>. The end of the Yugoslav model<\/p>\n\n\n\n Appendix A<\/strong>: The labor-managed firm<\/p>\n\n\n\n Appendix B<\/strong>: The Yugoslav economy in data<\/p>\n\n\n\n Appendix C<\/strong>: The disciplinary development of Yugoslav economics<\/p>\n\n\n\n References<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Index<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Author(s)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Biography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marko Grde\u0161i\u0107 <\/strong>is Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mislav \u017ditko <\/strong>is Assistant Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, Croatia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Critics’ Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Stubbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Institute of Economics, Zagreb<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author of The New International Economic Order: Lives and Afterlives<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This comprehensive, nuanced, in-depth study of the history of the field of professional economics in socialist Yugoslavia takes seriously the relative autonomy of the profession as it emerged after the revolution and consolidated its position subsequently. It explores the deep contradictions of Yugoslavia’s supposed exceptionalism in terms of in its socio-economic system and insists on the value of a comparative methodology. It is a path-breaking, inter-disciplinary, study, valuable not only because it revisits an important, if relatively neglected, spatio-temporal conjuncture but also because of the lessons it offers for contemporary emancipatory projects. It will become a point of reference for historical analyses of socialist economics, of great interest and value to students, researchers, and activists alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Branko Milanovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduate Center, City University of New York<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author of Visions of Inequality: From the French Revolution to the End of the Cold War<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In this splendid book, Marko Grde\u0161i\u0107 and Mislav \u017ditko trace the intellectual history of the rise and fall of the specifically Yugoslav political economy. It was a unique political economy because the circumstances were unique: companies managed by workers, capital owned by \u201csociety\u201d, and goods and services sold under market conditions. Thirty years ago at the apex of neoliberalism that theory seemed unimportant and quaint. But as some forms of labor management, workers\u2019 agency, and shareholder capitalism reemerge, the discussions of Yugoslav political economy may surprisingly become relevant again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ISBN 9781041025535<\/p>\n\n\n\n 196 Pages 1 B\/W Illustrations<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published October 31, 2025 by Routledge<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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