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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

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DEPARTI/ENT OF 'SdATN

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Frank G. Trjrka, SecondSecretary

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FROM : Amembassy BEIGRA_DE DATE: i r 1--.,r.r tct*a,, ir ) r-lltL-I -.'|,9o6 .SUBJECT : An Average Day in the Life of a Non-party iVlembgr1.btr the . ,

Professional Qlass in Yugoslavia r'r ' ' l=== r irrt6-{t

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While the lot of the non-party intellectual in Yugoslavi"d'hasimproved considerably in reccnt years, he still nust successful-ly grapplewith the daily challenges which arise jn an environment basically at oddswith his ovrn view of how the vror'ld should be ordered. In this regardsuccess in survi.val depends a great deal on the level of sound politicalinstincts, judgement and sense of timing possessed by the intel-lectual.Thc fnl -l nurr'no inci dcnts rcl af.cd tn *.hp rennrtr'no of f i eer hw one Yrronsl crruf I Uo, r grs Usu Vv UaIg I g-vUI Urrr6 vr r rvvr vJ v!L-intellectual of bourgeois parentage and professional training in economics,are rather typical of the current Yugoslav seene in which the Yugoslavintellectual attempts to find purpose, professional satisfaction andcareer advancement. While the incidents occurred days apart, they havebeen put in the time span of one day for readability and ease of under-standins.

After coping with the usual problems associated with getting towork on an overcrowded transportation system, our Yugoslav professionaleconomist arrived at his institute to learn that a workersr councilmeetinp has been called for nid-mornirrs to diseuss some staff chanses 9q! r vrfsrr8v eand possible iategration of his institute with another economic institute.He already lcrelv from rumors heard earlj-er in the week from several ofhis colleagues that a proposal would be forthcoming to add a number ofresearch assistants to the institute staff and that the word had comedown from above that the party looked with favor on the integrationmove. Following introductory remarks by the chairman of the meeting,the head of personnel (a party man) informed the institute membersthat he was recornmending employment of X, Y, and Z, as researchassistants especially lcrowledgeable in fields not being properly coveredby the institute at the moment. A few peripheral questions were asked,the oartv se.f,ivists in the institute made a nunber of ttnosif.irrpnrsuvsr v! yvD ! ut v I

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meaningless conments, the hirings were then approved, and the council moved ono its next order of business. Gt'ly later did it become lcrovu:r that the research

assistanti were in fact old party hacks who had been eased out of their formerr'ahc fnr innnmnalgnge Or miSCOndUCt. NeW pOSitiOnS had tO be fOUnd fOr thenreeause of their party loyalty. The presentation regarding the other topic forianrrecian lrrr +he

council_ -- integratiOn with another institute -- was aimed atathering support for the r.rndertaking. The advantages of integration were cited+L^ -^^1-'-^'rf research talent. facilities and funds -- but little was saidI]s IJUUI-Llrg UI l. sDco1 UII lJdlclf .

bout the economic condition of the other institute. A few questions from theloor designed to elicit information were answered rather sumnarily. Our non-arty professional economist sensed that the party unit in the rnstitute wasivided in its enthusiasm for integration and the director, a big party man, wasn* nrnrrr'Aina +1-16 expected jmpetus to the discussion. The discussion terminatedvu I/tvvrufrlS uafnconclusively with the recommendation that a small group study the problem furtherefore taking it up again later at a meeting of the workersr council. Iater itas learned that the hesitancy of the director was due to the probability of his

osing his position in theinerger and

his inability at themoment

to obtaina

irm commitment for another equally important and well-paying position elsewhere.Opposition among party and non-party members to the move is expected to hardenfter it has now become an open secret that the mate for the match has no dourrynd the inmediate effect of the marriage will probably be a salary study with aossible dovrnwai'd adjustment in some salaries.

Ratrrr.nino +.o his office after one and a tlalf hours of participation in thexercise of self-management and socialist democracy, our Yugoslav economj.stmembered he had an appointment with the institute director to follow up whate considered approval in principle by the director to the irstituters publishingsynopsis of his PIID dissertation on the standard of living in a group of villages

n South Serbia in the post-war period. When he saw the director, however, heound him in a less than friendly mood, probably due to dissatisfaction over theourse of the workersr council meeting and learned that the institute now hado interest whatsoever in publishing his paper. His political instinct told hinthat the director must have been told by someone that Belgrade University hadofirqcd *.n rnnonf his dissertatiOn qnl_ess he made some major changes in it, taking1^^ ^+.'-^ ^,,+ ^r'rrs ourrr6 vuu ur "negative concl-usions'r regarding agricultural policy in Serbia.he director must also have learned by now that he had successfully defended hrshesis before a group of professors in Zagxeb and had received his degree fromaoroh TTnirrorciirr vrhara i.ho i.oanhino.c+.aff rvas ennrrentlrr onlw tno hennrr io heervgvr]4rl6t'gpgyyl]+^"* L^.,. 1^^ l1--vuuu iruvv uaurJ the Serbs were nanaging their agricuJ-ture and have the factocumented with statistics. His suspicions were confirmed in this regard when^ ,,,^ ^ ^.,^--.i ^,t ^s v,qD yuer lsu o short while later in a half-joking manner by a party man at thenstitute as to how it was possible that he had gone to Zagreb for his degreenrl hrr imn] inof isn had turned his back on his home republic of Serbia.

Bv nolv orrr nrnfessinnelJ LLvrr VUr !I UIEDDTUTIOT sVVrIUlltrD U lIeU UIIIJ Cha urnrlr rlarr o* -uhe insti'r,Ute and his ihOughts were already preoccupied with aisi'u he had schedul-eo for ear'ly afternoon wi-r,h a lawy'er friend who was advising

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