Looking into the Past to See the Future? Lessons Learned from Self-Management for Economies in Post-Conflict Societies of the Former Yugoslavia

ABSTRACT

Even though it was largely ignored in interventions after the 1990s conflict, the experience of post-World War II socialist Yugoslavia can offer useful directions for better understanding the ways in which economy can contribute to peacebuilding. The economic system, based on self-management achieved remarkable socio-economic development, as well as unprecedented of levels of inter-ethnic cohesion. This article argues that even with many limitations of the system, workers’ participation in decision making and opportunities for socialising through the workplace were crucial for the role that the economy played in fostering inter-ethnic cohesion in the country.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. As many factories were destroyed due to the war or the privatisation that followed, I only managed to find workers’ newspapers from FAMOS factory in Sarajevo. I also relied on findings of Cvek et al. from Borovo workers’ newspaper (see Cvek et al. 2016), as well as Uljanik and Informator newspapers (see Stanić 2014).

2. Robert Kaplan is best known for such interpretations, see (Kaplan 2005). Ramet explains how international powers bought into this rhetoric. See (Ramet 2004), 740–741.

3. Unemployment remains at around 40 per cent of the working-age population in the post-conflict period. Data aggregated from various sources: International Monetary Fund; World Economic Outlook; CIA World Factbook; United Nations Statistical Division; and World Bank, http://www.indexmundi.com [Accessed 05 August, 2015].

4. In 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia changed the name into the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.

5. Agrokomerc is a company which was issuing false promissory notes while the other affair involved construction of holiday houses for communist elite in Neum, the only town of Herzegovina coast.

6. Fred Warner Neal, Yugoslavia at the Crossroads. Atlantic Unbound, quoted in Liotta, 2001, p. 12.'

7. There were 236 of them and they held 10.000 courses that were attended by 311,000 attendees (Pulig 2014). Cvek et al. (2015) also note that Borovo enterprise invested in education of its employees, master thesis and doctoral dissertations.

8. Duda notes that Croatia had 80,335 holiday centre beds at the peak of their development in 1988. See (Duda 2010, p. 43).

9. Babine is the term used for visits to couples who have recently become parents. Such visits usually include gifts for the baby.

10. The side of the city with populated predominantly by a different ethnic group.

11. As the negative treatment of religion is usually ascribed to socialist Yugoslavia, many interviewees mentioned this topic without me even asking them. This is most likely the reason they wanted me to know that the system was not as destructive towards religion as many think.

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Notes on contributors

Jasmin Ramović

Jasmin Ramović is a Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies in Politics Department at the University of Manchester, UK. He holds a PhD in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response from the University of Manchester, and as a Chevening scholar, he obtained an M.Litt. degree in International Security Studies from the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on local actors in conflict-affected settings, with a specific focus on the economic dimension of their everyday. Dr Ramović is also interested in interdisciplinary approaches to studying international relations, particularly the intersection of anthropology, international political economy and peace and conflict studies. In addition to his academic achievements, he also has extensive experience working with various international organizations, including the United Nations and the European Union missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has recently co-edited the Palgrave Handbook of Disciplinary and Regional Approaches to Peace (2016).