New Publication by Ulf Brunnbauer

19 August 2025, Skopje 

We are pleased to announce that Ulf Brunnbauer’s article “The (Un)Discovery of Old People in Socialist Yugoslavia: The Knowledge Politics of Inequality”  has recently been published in the Ревија за социјална политика / Journal of Social Policy  (Vol. 18 No. 21, 2025, Online First).

The study explores how ageing and old age were researched in socialist Yugoslavia from the 1960s onwards, and how this knowledge often failed to translate into effective policy. Drawing on sociological surveys and archival materials—especially from Macedonia—the article shows how rural older populations suffered from poor living conditions and lack of pension coverage, while government responses remained inadequate. By revisiting this neglected tradition of social-science research, the article sheds light on broader dynamics of inequality in Yugoslavia. As Brunnbauer argues, if we want to understand these inequalities—as one of the reasons for the country’s dissolution—we should listen to those contemporaneous voices.

The full text is available here.