Socialistično upravljanje v globalnem kontekstu: tehnokratski razvoj v Sovjetski zvezi in Jugoslaviji, 1955–1991
The project addresses management and governance under state socialism and aims to enhance the understanding of knowledge-driven models and technocracy on the basis of diverse historical experiences of the USSR and Yugoslavia. Synthesizing methods from conceptual, institutional, and political history, as well as social sciences, it focuses on three areas: 1) The state: This area includes the concept of the popular state, diversity management, and public micromanagement. 2) Production and distribution: This area involves studying environmental management, the role of cybernetics, and the emergence of consumer socialism. 3) Life cycles: This area features the management of gender relations, aging, and health. Employing the perspectives of global and comparative history and transcending boundaries between national histories, it will trace the development of scientific and systemic management and governance models between 1955 and 1991 through interconnected case studies of the USSR and Yugoslavia.
As a political and economic system, state socialism was a major invention of the twentieth century and became a global phenomenon over its second half. Since the 1950s, socialist governance increasingly relied on the idea that political, economic, and social lives were governable closed systems. The accumulation of knowledge and its application became a key function of state socialist regimes, while the scientific and technological revolution was posited as a new stage on the way to communism. Becoming global during the Cold War, the quest for knowledge-driven decision-making has persisted, fueling debates on technocracy and its relationship with democracy. The socialist notion of holistic (all-encompassing) governmentality informed contemporary critiques of global capitalism and its environmental and economic consequences. The concepts, institutions, and practices that emerged under state socialism – from welfare systems and family legislation to factories and institutions of higher education – persisted in many contexts. Problems such as low trust in institutions, corruption, and low efficiency also persisted.
- Vrsta projekta:
- Projekt okvirnih programov EC - ERC perspektiva
- Obdobje trajanja:
- 1. 1. 2025 - 31. 12. 2027
- Financerji:
- Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije
- Vodilna organizacija:
- Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino
- Vodje projekta:
- Dr. Ivan Sablin
Delavnica “Revolutionary Technocracy: The State and Mass Organizations in Socialist Governance since the 1950s”
CFP: Workshop “Revolutionary Technocracy: The State and Mass Organizations in Socialist Governance since the 1950s” (Ljubljana, June 17, 2025)
The Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, invites paper proposals for the Workshop “Revolutionary Technocracy: The State and Mass Organizations in Socialist Governance since the 1950s,” to be held on June 17, 2025, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
State socialism, as a political and economic system, was one of the major innovations of the twentieth century and became a global phenomenon in its latter half, with socialist regimes emerging across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. State socialism can be understood as a political regime characterized by single-party government, directed modernization under systemic governmentality, and the predominance of state property. From the 1950s onward, socialist governance increasingly embraced the notion that political, economic, and social lives could be organized and governed as closed systems. With the “scientific and technological revolution” integrated into the ideology as a new stage on the path to communism, the accumulation and application of knowledge became a central function of state socialist regimes, while holistic, systemic governmentality turned into a key feature of the ideology. In the 1960s, socialist governance and human existence in modern society became central to socialist social sciences, prompting a search for better planning. This led to the emergence of management studies and the development of theories on socialist post-industrialism, envisioning a communist society with automated production and perfect planning. Cybernetics played a key role in systemic governance, while the arts and humanities became essential in shaping the post-industrial socialist human.
The workshop will focus on the role of the state and “civic” organizations – trade unions, cooperatives, youth and women’s organizations, and other state-controlled associations – in technocratic governance under state socialism. It will investigate the concepts, institutions, and practices central to socialist governance of the state since the 1950s, with a focus on the accumulation and application of scientific knowledge, expertise, and data within the party, government bodies, and research organizations. In particular, the workshop will address technocratic approaches to law, diversity management, self-government, state-related planning and reforms, crisis management, and nomenklatura recruitment. The use of cybernetics in state management and the emergence of alternative, non-party approaches to governance rooted in the milieu of scientific and technical intelligentsia are also of special interest. The workshop will also explore how the international positioning of a socialist state shaped its political structures, particularly in countries that split from the Soviet bloc or were never part of it. Finally, it will analyze the transnational, transregional, and global transfer of concepts, institutions, and practices, focusing on how they spread and were adapted in different contexts. This will include examining asymmetric structural adjustments and the relational nature of socialist institutions, often juxtaposed with “bourgeois” ones.
Each contribution should focus on one or more specific state socialist contexts since the 1950s, including contemporary socialist states. Topics of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The relationship between technocratic approaches and ideology.
- The dynamics between ideological cadres and technical experts in socialist governance.
- The development and application of technocratic understandings of law.
- The design and implementation of schemes for state reforms.
- The role of research institutions in studying the political attitudes of the population.
- The use of opinion polls as a tool for policy-making and governance.
- The contribution of research institutions to the understanding of international relations and world politics.
- The evolution of decision-making processes and the collection of expertise within ruling parties.
- Technocratic ideas about the construction of a national community.
- Strategies and practices of governance in crisis management.
- Alternative technocratic designs for the state, particularly those proposed by the scientific and technical intelligentsia.
- Technocratic approaches to recruiting and managing the nomenklatura and advancing meritocracy.
- The application of cybernetics in state management and administration.
The workshop is part of the project Socialist Management in a Global Context: Technocratic Developments in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, 1955–1991, sponsored by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARIS). It is part of a series of three workshops, the results of which will be published together in a volume planned for 2027. The selection of papers will, hence, be based on their quality and coherence. Submissions addressing developments outside the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia are explicitly encouraged. Submissions to this workshop should focus on the role of the state in socialist governance. Later workshops will explore socialist technocracy in governing production and distribution as well as life cycles of the population.
Please submit a 300-word abstract and a short biography to PD Dr. Ivan Sablin (ivan.sablin@inz.si) and Dr. Tjaša Konovšek (tjasa.konovsek@inz.si) by February 28, 2025. Notifications of acceptance are expected by the end of March. Invited participants will be expected to submit drafts of up to 7,000 words by June 1, 2025. The organizers will be able to provide accommodation to the participants but cannot cover their travel costs.
Novice in dogodki
Dogodki
WEAST 2025 Ljubljana Workshop
19. - 20. 6. 2025
Economics, Nationalism and Politics in Central, East and South-East Europe Vabljeni na mednarodno konferenco WEAST 2025 Ljubljana Workshop: Economics, Nationalism and Politics in Central, East and South-East Europe, ki bo potekala 19. in 20. junija 2025 na Inštitutu za novejšo zgodovino v Ljubljani. V priponki prilagamo program in knjigo povzetkov. Dobrodošli! WEAST-2025-LJUBLJANA
Sodelujoči z INZ
Dr. Ivan Sablin
Znanstveni sodelavec