Authors
Igor Duda1; 1 Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia Discussion
Introduced as new sub-municipal units in the 1960s, the local communities (mjesne zajednice) were the lowest level of local self-governance in Yugoslavia, but even more so the channel for implementing and practicing social self-management and socialist direct democracy. Organized in city quarters and larger villages, they were described as extended families whose task was to bring neighbours together around their common interest and needs, thus also preventing alienation, particularly among urban dwellers. Various activities, including those in the fields of social welfare and construction works, were based on the ideas of humanity, camaraderie, friendship, socialist morals, closeness and solidarity. It was important to help to a community in need, whether it was a lagging twinned community or an area affected by a natural disaster. Archival documents and the specialized monthly paper Mjesna zajednica reported on examples of such solidarity across Yugoslavia. 
