JZD Slušovice — A Socialist Miracle in Czechoslovakia

April 30, 2024 8:19 AM

JZD Slušovice was a collective farm established in 1952 in the village of Slušovice in the south east of Czechia, at the time in central Czechoslovakia. When 27 year old František Čuba was appointed chairman of the coöperative in 1963, he decided to use the pretext that the farmland wasn't productive as a reason to branch out into alternative. And so, over the next 25 years the small village turned into an industrial powerhouse, developing amongst other things, a holiday resort and the first Czechoslovak Personal Computer.

As far as I'm aware, this is the first history of this organisation published on the web in (spoken, sorry) English. It neither endorses the communism of the Comecon states, nor the de facto corporation that was operating within it. Čuba later served as a Czech senator from 2014-2018.

posted by ambrosen (3 comments total)

The transcript is available at https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=c2O5PIt7-Y0 , and is written well, but without the slides, and the quality of Jon's delivery* that's a big part of why Asianometry is such a good way to learn, uhh pretty much anything, but more likely to be something which touches on semiconductor production. For those who can't do video or audio, episodes are written up in a newsletter, too.

*he does struggle over pronouncing Czechoslovakia**, for example. Which, well, he's from East Asia, and Europe isn't the centre of the world.
**sorry I keep referring to the communist era naming for Czechia and Slovakia, I imagine some people might find it jarring.
posted by ambrosen at 8:34 AM on April 30

Czechoslovakia was its name before the communist era also, and for a time afterward.
posted by Vegiemon at 7:37 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]

On the name: I have relatives from that region, and yes, it was just called Czechoslovakia then. That was the name. IMHO it'd have been weird to call an individual "Czechoslovak" as if that were an actual nationality but the name of the state wasn't offensive or anything.

On the main topic: I skimmed the transcript and it's a mix of interesting and but also (remembering my relatives' stories) some implicit navigation of the corrupt bureaucracy and oppressive state. Occasionally this is explicit: They mention contacts within the security forces and in government. It makes my overall reaction a bit like seeing a nepo-baby profile; they've still accomplished something but it's not really generalizable.
posted by mark k at 7:11 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]