Overview

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.

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9780745338941

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Reviews

'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' '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' '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 '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'

Author Information

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.

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