Afternoon Moonlighting – it Was a Must. The dynamics and Paradoxes of the Croatian Socialist and Post-socialist Labor Market

Sažetak

This paper discusses the elements of socialist and post-socialist (un)employment and informal economy. A growing economic crisis and a reduced participation in the formal labor market in the newly-formed Croatian state in the early 1990s brought about an increase in unemployment and gave rise to informal economy. However, informal economy had been widespread even before, in the late socialist period in the former Yugoslavia, which was the so-called “golden age” of formal employment. Being formally employed generally did not discourage people from additionally engaging in informal economy.

This paper offers an analysis of the cultural and social logic behind informal practices, based on a qualitative research that was conducted in an urban settlement in the periphery of Zagreb among former full-time industrial workers, who are officially unemployed today, and who have been active in the underground economy up to the present day.

Key words:

Croatia, socialism, post-socialism, informal economy, family relations