INVITATION TO THE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP SOCIALIST TECHNO-OPTIMISM AND GOVERNANCE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, 1955–1991

15–16 September 2026, Hokkaido University in Japan will host the international research workshop Socialist Techno-Optimism and Governance of Economic Development, 1955–1991, organized by the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University and the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana, in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary History of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The two-day workshop will bring together researchers from Europe, Asia, and the United States to examine socialist techno-optimism and the governance of economic development between 1955 and 1991 from a variety of perspectives. Discussions will address, among other topics, the scientific-technological revolution, automation and the future of labour, technocratic governance, the relationship between technology and the environment, economic development, and the transnational circulation of ideas, knowledge, and practices.

Researchers from the Institute of Contemporary History will also participate in the workshop. Ivan Sablin will present the paper The “Aggregate Worker” and “Human the Creator”: The Scientific-Technical Revolution and Marxist–Leninist Understandings of Labor in the USSR. He will also chair the roundtable Technocratic Governance and Development in the USSR, China, Yugoslavia, and the European Union, featuring Marko Zajc and Jure Gašparič among its participants.

Saša Hajzler will present The Factory versus the Valley: Galaksija Magazine and the Ecological Debts of Yugoslav Socialism, while Tjaša Konovšek will present Negotiating Cooperation and Development: The Yugoslav–Ethiopian Joint Committee for Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation, 1970s–1980s.

The workshop will take place on 15–16 September 2026 at the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University, and will also be accessible online.

Advance registration is required for online participation:

15 September 2026:
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/rSMW6gTmSxStfTkRTywbDg

16 September 2026:
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/uOMdCCN1QyCtU4zMuOmbmA

The full workshop programme is available at: Program Dual Workshop

We warmly invite you to join us in person or online!

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