Can Science and Technology Save a (Dying) State? Techno-Optimism in the Last Days of Socialist Yugoslavia

During the 1980s, as the economic, social, and political crisis in socialist Yugoslavia was intensifying, science and technology came to play an unprecedentedly prominent role in the public discourse. Science and technology were seen both as (one of the) culprits responsible for the crisis and, at the same time, as a force uniquely suited to help overcome it. The talk will discuss the conceptualizations of the relationship between science, technology, economy, and politics at the peak of socio-political crisis in Yugoslavia and suggest that this was a “pessimist” manifestation of techno-optimism. How did this curious take on techno-optimism relate to ways of thinking about science and technology across the world toward the end of the Cold War, especially in the developing and (semi-) peripheral countries? The talk will further address the tensions between science and technology as preferred vehicles of economic development as well as investment recipients. The proposals on how to utilize science and technology in order to change the course of the country’s development were more interesting for their political-ideological than practical ramifications. They offer not only a glimpse into the conflict between the “technocrats” and defenders of self-managerial socialism (as well as within those groups), but also depict science- and technology-driven visions for the future of a country that would soon disintegrate.