Authors
Tjaša Konovšek1; 1 Institute of Contemporary History, Slovenia Discussion
The Center for the Study and Cooperation of Yugoslavia with Developing Countries was established in Ljubljana, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, at a moment when the Non-Aligned Movement—and Yugoslavia’s role within it—was well established yet entering a period of stagnation. The Center’s creation was part of a response to this impasse: it sought to strengthen Yugoslavia’s non-aligned engagement by institutionalizing the production of knowledge about developing countries and their cooperation with Yugoslavia. Its mission was designed in an interdisciplinary manner, combining research, education, and policy support. This contribution examines the Center’s formative period from 1966 to 1973, situating it within the socialist political environment and academic system, and tracing its transformation into an institution of federal importance. Despite the scarcity of archival sources, the contribution demonstrates how the Center functioned as a nexus between academic production, foreign policy, and international cooperation, thereby offering new insights into the institutional dimensions of “non-alignment from below.” Focusing on the concept of development, this contribution traces how the concept of “development” operated alongside “solidarity” as the Center’s key analytical and normative pair. The Center translated these concepts into practice through teaching, expert training for commercial and technical staff, commissioned studies, and the INDOK information service that systematized legal, economic, and political data on partner countries. From its initial embedding within the College of Political Science to its 1973 reorganization as an autonomous institute, the Center linked knowledge production to policy and enterprise needs. The analysis of the Center’s work thus illuminates the infrastructures that sustained Yugoslavia’s non-aligned engagements and the institutional pathways through which socialist globalization was imagined and pursued. By foregrounding an institution rather than state-level diplomacy, the contribution builds on recent historiography that reexamines the infrastructures of socialist globalization and activities connected to non-alignment. 
