Mihajlov, Đilas and Others: Non-nationalist Opposition in Serbia/Yugoslavia, 1960s-1980s

The phenomenon of the anti-regime opposition in Yugoslavia is usually underestimated in comparison to other communist States in Europe. As stated by philosopher Leszek Kołakowski, “Yugoslavia was the first dissident State.” The existence of resistance was sometimes considered a marginal phenomenon, often limited to the figure of Milovan Đilas. This presentation will examine the most important initiatives and figures of the dissident movement in Serbia/Yugoslavia who were advocating for the democratization of socio-political life in the Balkans since the 1960s till the first half of the 1980's, such as Mihajlo Mihajlov, a literary critic born to a family of Russian émigrés, who attempted to establish The Road, the first independent journal with a public circulation, and the Petition Movement and the Free University, initiated by left-wing activists previously involved in the student movement in 1968, professors of sociology and philosophy at the University of Belgrade. The talk will also address the work of an influential group of civil and human rights activists, like Jovan Barović and his son Nikola as well as Srđa Popović, who focused on applying democratic mechanism of state in Yugoslavia. Different forms of dissident activity will be presented in comparison with the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, such as Czechoslovakia and Poland. Photo Source: OSA Archives

Mateusz Sokulski is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Silesia in Katowice.  He is a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies during October-November 2022. While at Stanford, Professor Sokulski will work on his book, presenting the most important figures of the democratic opposition in Serbia in the 1970s and 1980s. The projects aims to present their activity in comparison to other dissident groups in the European communist states. It is intended to depict their connections, mutual fascinations (the case of Solidarity movement in Poland, Charter 77, Helsinki Committees in the USSR and their impact in Yugoslavia). He will present policy of the regime in Yugoslavia towards its opponents while being focused on the social activity of democratic opposition, their aims, real impact on the society in Serbia and Yugoslavia. Fellowship at the Stanford Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies will be in fact next significant stage of his  previous surveys carried out in the archives in Belgrade, Zagreb, Budapest and Moscow where he has been working in the archives and recording testimonies of people involved in the most important democratic initiatives  in Yugoslavia. Professor Sokulski earned his PhD from the University of Wrocław, Institute of History in 2017 with a dissertation on "Yugoslav-Polish Relations in the years 1970-1980".

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