Goran Musić: Making and Breaking the Yugoslav Working Class

Workers’ self-management was one of the unique features of communist Yugoslavia. It prevailed, though not without challenges. In "Making and Breaking the Yugoslav Working Class: The Story of Two Self-Managed Factories" (CEU Press, 2021), Goran Musić has investigated the changing ways in which blue-collar workers perceived the recurring crises of the regime. Two self-managed metal enterprises-one in Serbia, another in Slovenia-provide the framework of the analysis 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, Musić analyzes the two cases, going beyond the clichés of political manipulation from the top and workers’ intrinsic attraction to nationalism.