The Rise and Fall of the "Slusovice Miracle" in Late Communist Czechoslovakia

FAIN: FB-57612-14

Paulina Bren
Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0001)

A history of Slusovice, an agricultural cooperative that was both the showcase and bane of late communist Czechoslovakia. On the verge of bankruptcy in 1963, twenty years later this former collective farm was producing biochemical, IBM-compatible computers, and sold-out celebrity variety shows. Never before written about, I am interested in how and why this transgressive company town was permitted to exist under socialism, and how this reflects on questions of dissent, subversion, containment, and surveillance.