At the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law of the Union University, on February 27th at 12 PM, a lecture titled “Yugoslav Self-Management as a Model for the French Left?” will be held by contemporary history professor Frank Georgi from the University of Paris-Saclay. Frank Georgi is an expert in the history of social movements, particularly the history of the CFDT union and self-management in France. In his lecture, Georgi will focus on the complex and contradictory relationship of the French political left, primarily the Socialist Party and the French Communist Party, as well as the trade union left, especially the CFDT and CGT unions, towards the “Yugoslav experiment” in the form of self-management, which, as a form of “cultural transfer,” moves from a country on the semi-periphery of the world system to a country at the center of that system, a state known primarily for exporting, not importing “intellectual products.” What role did the “Yugoslav experience” play in shaping, transforming, and the metamorphosis of the French left?

Frank Georgi has published several monumental books on the French political and trade union left, notably including: L’invention de la CFDT, 1957-1970 (Éditions de l’Atelier/CNRS Éditions, 1995), CFDT: l’identité en questions (Arbre bleu Éditions, 2014) and L’autogestion en chantier. Les gauches françaises et le “modèle” yougoslave (1948-1981) (Arbre bleu Éditions, 2018). He also edited the publication Autogestion, la dernière utopie? (Publications de la Sorbonne, 2003). Last year, his publication Self-Management in Construction, the French Left and the Yugoslav Model (1948-1981) was released by Akademska Knjiga.