Theories of Alienation and Socialist Democracy in Yugoslavia

• In Event: Left Perspectives on State- and Post-Socialism I: Alienation Theory and Socialist Practice in Postwar Eastern Europe

Abstract

In 1963, Yugoslav philosopher Gajo Petrović expressed concern over the lack of serious discussion among Marxists about the issue of alienation, which was either seen as insignificant or was simply ignored altogether. This presentation explores the controversies and debates on alienation, both in theory and in the context of socialism, by examining its relationship with the practice of socialist democracy in Yugoslavia. Self-management, introduced in Yugoslavia in the 1950s, was intended to address alienation by empowering workers, but in practice, alienation theory became a central element in sociological and philosophical critiques of the Yugoslav approach to socialist democracy amidst challenges linked, in particular, to bureaucratic control and economic stratification.

Author

• Una Blagojevic, Babeș-Bolyai U (Romania)