Frictions: Europe, America and global Transformations - Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Creator: Brunnbauer, Ulf
Title: Staatlichkeit und das Mantra des Exports im Jugoslawien der 1970er und 1980er Jahre
Subtitle: Wie der Schiffbau zum Kentern eines sozialistischen Staates beitrug
DOI: 10.15457/frictions/0015
Description:
What is the connection between ships and the collapse of Yugoslavia? It runs deeper than might be expected, as this text shows. More than any other industry, shipyards reflected the country’s export-oriented economy, while also making a crucial contribution to the integration of an economy based on socialist workers’ self-management into global markets. Focusing on the case of the Uljanik shipyard in Pula, this article outlines the frictions and contradictions that emerged from this situation. The industry was rarely profitmaking anyway, and the market for ships became further depressed in the wake of the oil price shock of 1974, taking the losses to even greater depths. Thus the export-oriented mantra came at a high price with the incongruities between self-management and the global market becoming ever greater, with a sinking Yugoslavia lacking the finances to bail out the industry.
Date of publication: 2022-02-03
Subjects: Croatia, Uljanik, Yugoslavia, crisis, economy, export, globalization, shipbuilding, state, state socialism, trade and institutions
Section: Essay
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