Coca-Cola Socialism

by Radina Vučetić, John K. Cox (Translator)

This book is about the Americanization of Yugoslav culture and everyday life during the nineteen-sixties. After falling out with the Eastern bloc, Tito turned to the United States for support and inspiration. In the political sphere the distance between the two countries was carefully maintained, yet in the realms of culture and consumption the Yugoslav regime was definitely much more receptive to the American model. For Titoist Yugoslavia this tactic turned out to be beneficial, stabilising the regime internally and providing an image of openness in foreign policy.

Coca-Cola Socialism addresses the link between cultural diplomacy, culture, consumer society and politics. Its main argument is that both culture and everyday life modelled on the American way were a major source of legitimacy for the Yugoslav Communist Party, and a powerful weapon for both USA and Yugoslavia in the Cold War battle for hearts and minds. Radina Vučetić explores how the Party used American culture in order to promote its own values and what life in this socialist and capitalist hybrid system looked like for ordinary people who lived in a country with communist ideology in a capitalist wrapping. Her book offers a careful reevaluation of the limits of appropriating the American dream and questions both an uncritical celebration of Yugoslavia’s openness and an exaggerated depiction of its authoritarianism.

Genres: Nonfiction

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Dr Radina Vučetić received her PhD in History at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade in 2011 where she wrote her dissertation, titled Americanization of Yugoslav Popular Culture in the 1960s. Since completing her PhD, she has been working as Assistant Professor at the Department for General Contemporary History at the University of Belgrade. From 2005–2011, she worked as a teaching assistant in the same department. In 2002, she was awarded her MA in History with her thesis, “Cvijeta Zuzorić”. European Influences on Cultural life in Belgrade 1918–1941, which she received at the Faculty of Philosophy in the University of Belgrade. From 2002–2005, she was a research fellow at the Institute for the Recent History of Serbia. She completed her BA in History at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, at the University of Belgrade in 1998.

Reviews

[Milan]

Odlična, temljna, naučno potkovana, a zanimljiva knjiga pisana pitkim i popularnim jezikom. Autorka se u ovoj knjizi bavi amerikanizaciom SFRJ tokom šezdesetih godina minulog veka.

Više o samoj knjizi i nekim mojim razmišljanima i ovoj temi možete pročitati u malo dužem tekstu na ovom linku: http://www.bookvar.rs/da-li-je-kapita...

[Milan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vrlo interesantna hronologija šarenolikog američkog kulturnog uticaja u Jugoslaviji 60-ih. Kao generacija odrasla nakon raspada SFRJ, svideo mi način na koji autor pruža kontekst emblematičnih pojava, naročito sa ideološke pozadine, a o kojima sam imao vrlo površno shvatanje na osnovu priča roditelja i starijih. Toplo preporučujem čitaocima koje fascinira Jugoslavija sa svim svojim društevno-političkim protivurečnostima.

[Miloš · Rating 4 out of 5]

Za svakog ponesto u knjizi koja je koristan almanah o sizofrenom zivotu u jugoslovenskom drustvenom okruzju. Licno najzanimjiviji delovi bili su o filmu, a posebno o pozoristu i avangardama.

[Dora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Očito temeljena na pomnom istraživanju autorice, knjiga pruža temeljiti uvid u Jugoslaviju "Janusovog lica", fokusirajući se na 60-e godine i na jugoslavensko-američke odnose. Pritom ne zanemaruje situaciju unutar zemlje i vanjskopolitičke odnose s drugim zemljama, poglavito zemljama Istočnog bloka s kojima je uspoređuje po pitanju sloboda, prava, odnosa prema konzumerizmu i popularnoj kulturi. Autorica također objašnjava proces amerikanizacije u različitim sferama života, analizirajući političke i ekonomske okolnosti koje su ovo omogućile te posljedice za svakodnevni život, umjetnost i kulturu općenito.

[Pixel.Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sjajno, informativno, zanimljivo! Jedino što ovu knjigu deli od fenomenalne je što se vidi da je istraživački/doktorski rad, pa postoji previše ponavljanja i navođenja primera/referenci. Obavezno štivo!

[Mark Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough review of American cultural influence in Yugoslavia from 1948 onward.

[Dragana Mecanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mnogo volim da čitam istraživanja Radine Vučetić, kao i drugi čitaoci, uživam u svakoj njenoj knjizi. U "Koka-kola socijalizam", ne saznajete samo o prvim pojavama i obrisima potrošačkog društva socijalističke Jugoslavije. U ovoj knjizi postoji značajan broj informacija koje ni mi, istraživači arhitekture iz perioda druge polovine XX veka nismo sagledavali. "Koka-kola" socijalizam je odličan za razumevanje konteksta u kome su nastajale prve samoposluge i robne kuće, katedrale potrošačkog društva samoupravnog socijalizma.