Titoism
Titoism[a] is an extremely revisionist tendency of libertarian Marxism which has its origins in the social-fascist dictatorship of Josip Broz Tito in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Titoism is opposed to Marxism-Leninism, upholds bourgeois nationalism, denies the role of the vanguard party in socialist construction, and seeks to preserve private ownership of the means of production under the veil of "market socialism".[1][2][3]
History
Titoism began to take shape immediately after World War II, but it truly solidified between 1949 and 1950, when Josip Broz Tito openly condemned Comrade Stalin as a “man seeking control over Yugoslavia.” In 1948, Tito declared: “We do not need anyone to teach us socialism. We are building socialism in our own way, and we shall continue to do so.” By 1949, Yugoslavia formally adopted market socialism as its economic orientation. Tito promoted “workers’ self-management,” a system that handed control of production to factory managers and local bureaucrats. In 1950, this model was institutionalized as the official Yugoslav path. Though it appeared radical, it opened the door to Western influence, foreign capital, and creeping liberalization. The Titoist economic framework persisted until the collapse of Yugoslavia. From the early 1960s through the late 1970s, the country increasingly relied on foreign loans to compensate for poor planning and internal contradictions. By the 1980s, the system was in deep crisis. Corruption, inflation, and declining productivity led to falling wages and the introduction of ration cards.[b][4]