Partisan Ruptures
Self-Management, Market Reform and the Spectre of Socialist Yugoslavia
Published on 20. December 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-7453-3894-1 (ISBN)
Description
Yugoslavia's twentieth-century bore witness to civil war, sharp ideological struggles and a series of 'partisan ruptures'; revolutionary events that changed the face of Yugoslavian society, politics and culture, which were felt on a global level.
This book is a comprehensive historical and political analysis of the three major ruptures; the People's Liberation Struggle during World War Two, the self-management model and the Non-Aligned Movement. In order to understand what provoked and what came out of these revolutionary ruptures, Gal Kirn examines the implications of communism and socialism's productive relationship, the Yugoslavian 'experiment' of market socialism that marked the political and economic shift towards 'post-socialism' already in the 1960s, which crystallised new class coalitions that will later on - together with austerity politics - lead the way towards des-integration of Yugoslavia.
Filling a much-needed gap in English language literature, this book's interrogation of the Yugoslav socialist experiment offers insights for left projects and democratic socialist discussions today, as well as historians of Yugoslavia and revolutionary movements.
This book is a comprehensive historical and political analysis of the three major ruptures; the People's Liberation Struggle during World War Two, the self-management model and the Non-Aligned Movement. In order to understand what provoked and what came out of these revolutionary ruptures, Gal Kirn examines the implications of communism and socialism's productive relationship, the Yugoslavian 'experiment' of market socialism that marked the political and economic shift towards 'post-socialism' already in the 1960s, which crystallised new class coalitions that will later on - together with austerity politics - lead the way towards des-integration of Yugoslavia.
Filling a much-needed gap in English language literature, this book's interrogation of the Yugoslav socialist experiment offers insights for left projects and democratic socialist discussions today, as well as historians of Yugoslavia and revolutionary movements.
Reviews / Votes
'Gal Kirn's recovery of the courageous achievements of Yugoslav partisans is not only a crucial blow against the anticommunism of authoritarian historical revisionists. It is more importantly a generator of communist enthusiasm. By drawing out the unique achievements of the People's Liberation Struggle, self-management, and the Non-Aligned Movement, Kirn lets us see how another world was becoming possible, and believe in that world again' -- Jodi Dean, author of 'Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging' 'In contrast to the dominant view of Socialist Yugoslavia as historical error or anomaly, Kirn presents the Yugoslav socialist project as an actual and historical possibility. In a period dominated by neoliberal historical revisionism but also marked by new anticapitalist aspirations, this is a very welcome contribution' -- Panagiotis Sotiris, Hellenic Open University 'Kirn provides a unique reading of the experience of Yugoslav self-management, drawing especially upon critical Marxist concepts of reproduction, class struggle and rupture in the Althusserian sense of the term. In doing so, he reveals the lessons that can be drawn from his historical enquiry for future struggles' -- Michael Lebowitz, author of 'The Socialist Alternative: Real Human Development' 'We should understand Kirn's 'Partisan Ruptures' as both the true historical and political legacy of former Yugoslavia, and as a radical critique of the historicist developmentalism that is at the ideological core of the post-communist transitology' -- Boris Buden, author of 'Zone of Transition: On the End of Post-Communism'More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
5 Tables, black and white; 3 Figures
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 135 mm
Weight
381 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-3894-1 (9780745338941)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2019
1st Edition
Pluto Press
€31.99
Available for download
Persons
Gal Kirn is an open topic fellow at TU Dresden. He was previously a researcher at the JvE Academie in Maastricht, a research fellow at ICI Berlin and a fellow at Stuttgart's Akademie Schloss Solitude. He has edited books on neoliberalism, Althusser, Yugoslav black wave cinema and theories of post-Fordism. He is currently finishing the book The Partisan Counter Archive and editing a book on riots.
Content
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction: Beyond the Spectrum of Partisan and Socialist Yugoslavia
1. On Partisan Rupture as a Revolutionary Process: Tito Versus Schmitt
2. A Brief Outline of the End of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Partisan Beginnings of World War II
3. Partisan Rupture I: The People's Liberation Struggle
4. Split with Stalin: A New Road to Socialism?
5. Partisan Rupture II: The Road to the Non-Aligned Movement
6. Partisan Rupture III: Yugoslav Road to Self-Management Socialism
7. A Short Introduction to the Recent Studies of Socialist Yugoslavia
8. The Main Characteristics of Early Yugoslav Socialism
9. The 1965 Market Reform: From Decentralised Planning to the Logic of Capital
10. Separation I: Split within Companies, or Class Struggles from Below
11. Separation II: Competition between Companies and Financialisation, or Class Struggles from Above
12. Socialist Reproduction and Self-Management Ideology in Yugoslavia in 1968 and Beyond
13. The Contradictory Movement of Socialist Civil Society in Slovenia during the 1980s: The Beginning of the End of Yugoslavia
Conclusion: After the 1991 Yugoslav Deluge, the Rise of the New Europe
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Introduction: Beyond the Spectrum of Partisan and Socialist Yugoslavia
1. On Partisan Rupture as a Revolutionary Process: Tito Versus Schmitt
2. A Brief Outline of the End of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Partisan Beginnings of World War II
3. Partisan Rupture I: The People's Liberation Struggle
4. Split with Stalin: A New Road to Socialism?
5. Partisan Rupture II: The Road to the Non-Aligned Movement
6. Partisan Rupture III: Yugoslav Road to Self-Management Socialism
7. A Short Introduction to the Recent Studies of Socialist Yugoslavia
8. The Main Characteristics of Early Yugoslav Socialism
9. The 1965 Market Reform: From Decentralised Planning to the Logic of Capital
10. Separation I: Split within Companies, or Class Struggles from Below
11. Separation II: Competition between Companies and Financialisation, or Class Struggles from Above
12. Socialist Reproduction and Self-Management Ideology in Yugoslavia in 1968 and Beyond
13. The Contradictory Movement of Socialist Civil Society in Slovenia during the 1980s: The Beginning of the End of Yugoslavia
Conclusion: After the 1991 Yugoslav Deluge, the Rise of the New Europe
Notes
Bibliography
Index