ABSTRACT
The article offers an introduction into the myriad of social functions sport and physical culture had during the Yugoslav socialist project. It illustrates how sport was central to the establishment of the federation’s physical and leisure culture in the early post-Second World War period, an international promotional tool for Yugoslav communists championing the ideological superiority of ‘Brotherhood and Unity’ and the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as a social field in which the ideological contradictions of Yugoslav socialism became increasingly apparent. It argues that throughout the country’s existence, sport was one of the most popular and engaging cultural phenomena of social life emblematising the social dynamics of the socialist period, as well as questions of the everyday lives of the Yugoslav people. The article furthermore addresses some of the central issues that are chronic for sport-related research in socialist Yugoslavia. These include fundamental questions of the very nature of sport and its role in different political systems, but also more practical issues researchers face, such as the questions of relevant historical sources and the available scholarly and non-scholarly literature. It thus aims to expand the existing knowledge of the processes which defined Yugoslav sport during socialism and thereby contribute to a more nuanced understanding of socialist Yugoslavia’s society.
