[monodeldiablo]

I actually live in Croatia these days and have some experience with zadruge (Yugoslav cooperatives). Many of the agricultural cooperatives still survive, but the worker cooperatives were largely converted into joint stock corporations in the early 90s and then asset stripped by private equity and crooked politicians for a decade or two thereafter.

Several family members worked at zadruge and that's where I get most of my information from, so take this all with a grain of salt...

One of the key issues with zadruge was that, while nominally cooperatives, they were actually owned and managed by the state. Directors were appointed by the communist party and not elected by the workers. As a result, a culture of kleptocracy crept in, since party rank and connections were more beneficial than seniority or hard work, and resentment grew between labor and management.

This has tainted the idea of cooperatives in the former Yugoslavia, so few people are interested in reviving cooperatives today, even though the core issues that plagued zadruge have improved dramatically since 1991.

They were, however, an experiment in democracy in the workplace, albeit limited. And that was radical for its time. Most people I've spoken with say that, for all their failings, zadruge were enriching and empowering places to work and much preferred alternatives to today's jobs.