This article firstly focuses on the initial recognition, in the final period of the second Yugoslavia, of the existence of social inequalities, as the first serious symptoms of abandoning the ideology of social equality and socialism as a whole. Moreover, the nationalist mobilization was used as a lever for restoration of capitalism as a typical class society. After that it briefly outlines two post-war periods of structuring social opportunities in societies in the West, and partly also in the East. The first period is designated primarily by egalitarian tendencies, which is manifest in increased popularity of critical and radical trends in social sciences. The second period, which still lasts, is quite opposite in orientation, and this is, in turn, manifest in ever greater relevance of social Darwinism as a discursive foundation of a series of sciences. The next, and largest, part of the article is dedicated to an attempt at explaining the permanence of social inequalities, and the author stresses the inexhaustible character of Rousseau's question regarding the origin of social inequalities. In the present-day quest for an answer to that question, certain similarities are noticeable between (neo) evolutionism and (neo) Marxism. Although Marx himself stressed the correspondence of his conception of class struggles in history with Darwin's conception of struggles for survival in nature, but also took into account the differences (between natural evolution and human history), the conclusion on the identity of their conceptions imposes itself through observations about the constant defeat of the proletariat in age-long struggles against the oppressors, which continue to this very day in the epoch of neo-liberal global capitalism. Reflecting on possibilities of a generally different outcome in the struggles for a more just society, the author finds that there are two interrelated prerequisites to their existence. The first has to do with connecting the theory and practice of liberalism and socialism with the aim of establishing a balance between the mechanisms of individual freedom and competition on the one hand, and social sensitivity or solidarity on the other. The second prerequisite is the construction of a world democratic state. Its political interest and scope of governing would neutralize the key concept (and self-reproduction mechanism) of social Darwinism -- inclusive fitness. Quite simply, the latter means to favour "one's own" group while humiliating or excluding the other. In a society with a globally ruling government, the division between "one's own" and "somebody else's" parts of the world -- the boundaries of which are nowadays all too often shifted to and fro as a consequence of the erratic character of expansion and contraction of the market and the breaking out of conflagrations of war, producing a permanent Hobbesian "state of nature" -- would make way for wisdom of governing and for work of all for the benefit of all. Adapted from the source document.
In this article, the processes of re-stratification in Serbia during the period from the end of the 1980s until recent times are analyzed on the basis of findings of several empirical investigations. In the first part of the text, the author points out that a systemic change implies not only quantitative changes in the control and distribution of social resources, but also changes in the way of constituting the basic social groups, and the forms of their relations, which means that the groups themselves (ruling elites, middle classes, and even manual workers) in socialism and in capitalism must be defined differently. In the second part of the text, attention is drawn to the changes in three areas of the stratificational system in Serbia: mobility, economic differentiation and value orientations. In the field of social mobility, an increase of self-recruitment of all basic classes is established, but also, in particular, a strengthening of barriers between manual workers and higher social strata. Furthermore, the author points out an increase in economic differentiation, and a growing importance of private property to this differentiation (the singling out of major private entrepreneurs on the top of the material status hierarchy). It is shown that, on the level of values, all classes (including the ruling class and the middle class) are characterized by inconsistency, in terms of a pronounced presence of statist-distributive values, which hampers the process of consolidation of a new institutional and normative (market and pluralistic) order in Serbia. Adapted from the source document.
The article provides an analysis of youth values in Croatia in the socialist and post-socialist periods, comparing them with values of older citizens and of the political elite. The comparative analysis is based on data obtained through four empirical investigations conducted in 1986, 1999 and 2004. The results show that the predominant youth values remain stable, with minor oscillations in rank. The aspects in which the young are different from the older citizens are a broader variety of interests, a greater acceptance of post-materialistic values, and a lesser acceptance of traditional and political values. It is also shown that the optimism of youth is constantly on a high level, as well as their satisfaction with life, which is more pronounced than with older citizens. In all analyzed segments the political elite is noticeably different from both above-mentioned groups. The overall findings confirm that the acceptance of observed values varies depending on the social-political context, and the age and social status of the respondents. Since the scope of the variations is limited, the author concludes that this analysis gives one more confirmation of the relative stability of values, and of the fact that they are transmitted from generation to generation in a way which does not endanger social continuity. Adapted from the source document.
Since his student days in Zagreb, Milivoj Magdic, one of the leading Croatian political publicists in the first half of the twentieth century, was well-disposed towards Marxism. On a result, he gained a prominent place in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. But in his writings he soon divorced himself from official communist ideology. As a result, he was proclaimed a traitor to the party and a provocateur in the pay of the police. He nevertheless remained a committed Marxist until Stalin's purges in the USSR in 1935 left him disillusioned. Thereafter, he became the Yugoslavian communists most dangerous ideological opponent. Magdic' believed that Marxism was flawed because it attempted to build socialism by controlling people, because it left the responsibility of establishing socialism exclusively at the feet of one social class, and because, most fatally, it relied too heavily on materialism. For holding ideas such as these, the communists at one point even atempted to murder Magovac. During the period of the Independent State of Croatia (1941-1945) he wrote mostly for the periodical Spremnost (Readiness), but he held no political office. At the end of the Second World War he emigrated across Austria to Italy, but he was arrested in Rome in 1947 by the English and handed over to the Yugoslav government. He was proclaimed a war criminal, brought before the court, and sentenced to death. This was primarily due to his writings against communism and Marxism. (SOI : CSP: S. 116)
The German sociologist and anthropologist Helmuth Plessner has tried to explain the ascent of national-socialism in Germany with the belated formation of the German nation. Not only was it formed later than other West European nations, it was formed in a different manner. While West European nations were formed by countering monarchy with the novel concept of the state as a republic, the German nation was founded on the culture within the Reich which was "a great power devoid of the idea of the state". The author has tried to prove the limited analytical value of Plessner's distinction between the belated and the timely nations by pointing out that culture and tradition are an essential medium for the formation of nations. (SOI : PM: S. 206)
In this text the author elaborates on two central assumptions. The first assumption (based on the comparative survey results from ten postcommunist countries) is that there is a marked positive correlation between the residue of "communist legacy" in people's minds and the electoral success of leftist parties. Since that legacy in Croatia (and Czech Republic) has been weakest, this is going to be an aggravating circumstance for SDP in their struggle for power. The second assumption is that the politics of leftist parties which could come to power is to shuttle between two extremes: the restoration of real socialism in a modified form and the social-democratic model of Sweden or at least Germany. According to the author, the key agents of such politics are "neotraditionalism" and "political capitalism" both inherited from the former system. (SOI : PM: S. 46)
Рад је осмишљен као преглед изведених дела Опере Народног позоришта у Београду у периоду осме и девете деценије 20. века. У то време Опера је настојала да одговори на тадашњу културну политику у контексту југословенског самоуправног социјализма, суочавајући се са бројним изазовима као што су питање извођаштва и радне дисциплине. Циљ рада је да се прикаже репертоарска политика поменуте институције, као и рецепција оперских представа у дневним новинама "Политика". ; The paper represent an overview of the performed works of the Opera of the National Theater in Belgrade during the eighth and ninth decades of the 20th century. At that time, the Opera sought to respond to the cultural policy of the time in the context of Yugoslav self-management socialism, facing many challenges such as the issue of performance and work discipline. The aim of the paper is to present the repertoire policy of the mentioned institution as well as the reception of the opera performances in the daily newspaper Politika. ; Научни скуп одржан од 12. до 14. априла 2019. године у Бања Луци.
In the period 1945-1950, the oldest educational and cultural organization of the Croatian peasantry, "Seljacka Sloga" (Peasant Unity), renewed its work throughout Croatia and Bosnia and Hercegovina. In terms of the extent of the organization, the number of local branches (over 600) approached the prewar figure, and an equally respectable number of people (over 60,000) participated in the various educational and cultural activities it offered. These activities primarily followed traditional patterns: instruction in reading and writing, advice on economic and health issues, promotion and preservation of cultural customs and heritage, and assistance to amateur peasant artists of all kinds. But the very existence and work of the organization in this period was in large part determined by the political objectives of the new socialist government, which saw in the organization's activities the possibility of strengthening its influence in the countryside. is thus possible to conclude that "Sloga" at this time was made an instrument of politics, and this shaped the content of its work and determined the nature of its organization. The new government forced "Sloga" to join the pro-communist National Front and make its policies according to the set principles of, at first, national democracy, and later, socialism. The leaders of "Sloga" were under constant pressure from the state. Nonetheless, the author concludes that the "Sloga" played an important role in the postwar era, a time of extreme poverty, when other institutions did not exist. In the countryside, its revived cultural and educational activities satisfied basic needs. (SOI : CSP: S. 146)