Panel discussion V: Local Historic Blocs I: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia:
Channel: Inštitut za delavske študije
Date: 2014-05-06

Ognjen Kojanić: Disciplined, Dispossessed and/or Disorganised: Three Cases from Post-Socialist Serbia

Anej Korsika: Notes on the Class Situation in Slovenia: From Class Compromise to Class Struggle

Marko Kostanić: The Historic Bloc in Croatia: From the Disintegration of Yugoslavia to the EU Periphery
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As argued by Antonio Gramsci, the concept of historic bloc refers to a historical congruence between material forces, state and civil institutions and ideologies, or, put differently, an alliance of different classes politically organised around hegemonic ideas that give coherence to its constituent elements.

This panel will focus on historic blocs in post Yugoslav countries in an attempt to locate their similarities and differences. Through analyses of post-socialist transition it will try to shed light on concrete alliances in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. By examining the connection between economic interests and cultural and ideological leadership over allied and subordinate groups, the panelists will try to determine the relationship between the dominant class and the weakest link of the alliances.

One of the key issues will be the connection between the managerial class of Yugoslav self-managed economy and nationalist ideology, on onse side, and, on the other, the comprador bourgeoisie that has emerged as a force in recent years.

This panel is aimed to contribute to a socialist anawer to the question of how to struggle against the hegemony and class alliances that subordinate the working classes and increasingly jeopardise the living conditions of the working classes.