Authors

Discussion

This paper examines technological optimism in Yugoslavia—specifically in Slovenia—during the late period of socialist self-management, through the work of Slavist, journalist, and communication theorist Boris Grabnar (1921–2003). In the early 1980s, Grabnar published a futuristic book envisioning life after the year 2000. A former partisan who joined the resistance as a student in 1941, he was imprisoned by Italian fascist authorities and later participated in the partisan liberation of Trieste. Although a marginal figure in the cultural and scientific establishment, Grabnar belonged to a wider intellectual elite committed to the Yugoslav model of socialism. His book went beyond imagining technological marvels, devoting significant attention to the future of self-managed socialism in a technologically advanced society. Central to his vision was the invention of “communicators,” devices enabling direct person-to-person communication. These tools, he believed, would not only revolutionize cultural production—such as publishing—but also transform the political system. The delegate system introduced in 1974 would become obsolete, as citizens could directly deliberate and resolve common affairs, thereby accelerating the withering away of the state. Grabnar’s futurism remained in constant dialogue with his partisan experiences, interpreting new technologies as tools for collective empowerment and social emancipation. Yet alongside his strong techno-optimism, his forecasts contained critical undertones and reflected awareness of Yugoslavia’s mounting economic crisis in the 1980s.