University of Arts in Belgrade
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“Serbia will not bend”: Defending the Dominant Narrative
No full textIn 2024, we conducted a survey examining the collective memories of young people (aged 18–30) in Serbia about the 1990s. Survey included open-ended questions on associations with the ‘90s, key figures, events, and a comment section, alongside socio-demographics and several scales. Survey was disseminated with the sponsored post from the “Museum of the ‘90s” account - a recent initiative dedicated to commemorating the period associated with public actors openly calling for the Serbian government to take responsibility for the wars in the 1990s. This study explores the assumed psychological dynamics behind a group of respondents who participated in a survey whilst undermining it (e.g. "German-funded study? Ridiculous"). We hypothesise that these participants sought to subvert the survey because they align themselves with a so called “First Serbia” symbolical community that was dominant in the 1990s with its ethnonationalist wars posing as antiimperialism. To allow ourselves a birds-eye view on all 1394 participants and 14 variables (with a total of 109 categories), we conducted Response Item Network analysis. Indeed, acts of resentment often co-occurred with elements of “First Serbia’s” collective memory. Some of these subversive symbols were: answering with a domestic script (Cyrillic) rather than international Latin script, glorifying Serbian war criminals prosecuted by the International Court of Justice (including the president Slobodan Milošević), condemning assassinated liberal-democratic Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, and emphasising unrecognised sufferings of the Serbian people such as bombing in 1999 named “NATO agression”. Furthermore, these symbolic means were rarely co-occurring with other associations holding together such as Đinđić as a positive figure, Milošević as a negative one
How Serbia’s National Identity Shapes Its International Positioning Amidst the War in Ukraine: Hollow Neutrality as a Poor Imitation of Yugoslavia’s Non-Alignment
No full textSerbia is one of the few European countries that did not impose sanctions on the Russian
Federation following the invasion of Ukraine. The primary objective of my paper is to
explore and explain this distinct position through a substantial analysis of the roots and
logic underpinning Serbia’s foreign policy. By adopting a critical social constructivist
approach, this study seeks to understand the way in which national identity shapes
Serbia’s unique foreign policy decisions - not only in relation to Russia and Ukraine but
also in terms of its broader international orientation. The basic claim of the article is that
Serbia’s international positioning should be assessed through two key factors: first, the
notion of ‘Serbian exceptionalism,’ rooted in the country’s self-perception of its unique
historical and geopolitical role; and second, its attempt to emulate Yugoslavia's nonaligned stance during the Cold War, aiming to preserve strategic autonomy amidst global
power dynamics
Legislative party switching in a hybrid regime: Evidence from 2012–2024 Serbia
No full textLegislative party switching, the act of elected representatives changing party affiliation, has attracted increasing scholarly and public attention due to its controversial nature and potential implications for democratic processes. While existing research has focused on consolidated and consolidating democracies, there is a limited understanding of party switching dynamics in hybrid regimes, particularly in electoral autocracies. These polarised environments, characterised by institutionalised opposition marginalisation and an uneven electoral playing field, often leave opposition parties unable to provide legislators with prospects for re-election, access to resources, or influence over policy. This raises the question of whether the motivations behind switching behaviour in hybrid regimes can be adequately explained using existing theories. This paper analyses a novel dataset of over 100 publicly documented cases of party switching in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2012 to 2024, a period marked by increased autocratization. It finds that party switching is moderately frequent, occurring in around 5% of cases, and stable over time, predominantly involving legislators switching between opposition parties. By examining the political context of these switches, it classifies the justifications for these changes, which reveals a more nuanced understanding of legislators’ rationale, particularly party switching as a manifestation of internal conflicts within opposition parties. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of legislative behaviour under hybrid regimes, and how institutional constraints and political incentives influence individual legislators’ decision-making
Unraveling the Architectural Exhibition Form: Tracing Practices Across Time, Materiality, and Disciplines
No full textThe lecture introduces Unraveling: New Spaces, the Serbian Pavilion at the 2025 Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, as a case study that explores temporality, energy, and materiality as evolving architectural form. It emphasises experimental approaches to temporality and materiality as a means of engaging with the question of contemporaneity in architectural practice
How to Fit Partisan Struggle into Literature? Mitra Mitrović’s War Journey
No full textThis article analyzes Mitra Mitrović’s War Journey (1953) as a distinctive attempt to render the experience of the Yugoslav partisan struggle through innovative aesthetic and ideological forms. Opening with Mitrović’s path from underground resistance in Belgrade to her survival of the Battle of Sutjeska, the study shows how the memoir creates literary-and-revolutionary constellations that fuse political conviction, sensory experience, and reflections on revolutionary time. Drawing on neo-avant-garde notions of “constellations,” the article argues that War Journey articulates a “future present”—an open, forward-oriented temporality that shapes both the narrative structure and its understanding of freedom, joy, and collective action. A feminist lens highlights Mitrović’s insistence on the inseparability of antifascist struggle and women’s organizing, especially through the legacy of the Antifascist Front of Women and the remembrance of fallen comrades. The memoir ultimately challenges conventional genre expectations, offering a literary form capable of accommodating revolutionary rupture
Digital sociology - A case study for social science knowledge crisis in the era of digital
No full textIn the face of rapid digital transformation, the social sciences are confronting a profound epistemological crisis. We examine how the field of digital sociology might exemplify that crisis through its marginalized position in sociology. Following the publication of the first “paradigmatic” monograph about digital sociology in 2015, only two more books have been produced, along with three journal special issues. Further, in our bibliometric analysis, since 2015, only 31 articles have included the term “digital sociology” as part of their title, keyword, or abstract. Certainly, this isn't an indicator that scholars are not dealing with the various topics of digital technology and different aspects of society. Rather, it points to a problem within digital sociology as a field and its modest academic output. The question is - why is this the case? And what are broader implications for sociology, knowledge and social sciences in general? Using Andrew Abbott's fractal distinction analysis and Bruno Latour's concept of scientific controversies, we aim to shed some light on these questions. By identifying networks of scholarly works and citations, we map the intellectual clusters and gaps that define this field’s landscape. The findings reveal a diverse yet fragmented domain: researchers broadly champion interdisciplinarity and novel methodologies, but without the confrontational debates that often precede paradigm shifts. Rather than integrating around a dominant paradigm or engaging in open scholarly confrontations, digital sociologists maintain a polite plurality of perspectives. This theoretical fragmentation without conflict or controversy raises questions about the discipline’s ability to generate cohesive and fruitful knowledge in turbulent times. Our analysis further delves into the methodological challenges posed by digital-era social inquiry. We highlight how the influx of big data and computational methods disrupts traditional sociological research practices, challenging the former monopoly of sociology over social knowledge. The case of digital sociology, with its “polite” internal pluralism and external disruptions, may illustrate the wider predicament of contemporary social science
Deliberativni kvalitet diskusije studentskih plenuma
No full textDeliberativni model demokratije tokom poslednje decenije prešao je
put od teorijskog promišljanja idealnog modela, preko eksperimentalnih
praksi, do institucionalizovanih formi u mnogim savremenim demokra
tijama. Osnovna pretpostavka ovog modela jeste da može osnažiti i pro
dubiti demokratski kvalitet donošenja odluka, prvenstveno zahvaljujući
naglasku na inkluzivnosti i ravnopravnosti različitih mišljenja i stavova u
procesu političke deliberacije. I dok institucionalizovani oblici deliberaci
je, najćešče sprovedeni u formatu deliberativnih mini javnosti, kroz jasno
strukturisane faze, teže da obezbede normativne standarde deliberativne
procedure i time garantuju određene demokratske ishode, relativno malo
je istraženo kako deliberativni procesi organizovani odozdo (grassroots)
mogu odgovoriti na ove izazove. Posebno ostaju otvorena pitanja u vezi
sa stepenom inkluzivnosti, heterogenosti učesnika i ravnopravnosti u dis
kusiji u kojoj bi svi glasovi trebalo da budu jednako prisutni i uvaženi. U
ovom istraživanju ćemo ispitati kvalitet deliberacije studentskih plenuma
prevashodno fokusirajući se na nivo inkluzivnosti koji postoji unutar ple
numa posmatrajući kako postavljanje tema na agendu, diskusiju koja se o
temama vodi i samom procesu donošenja odluka.
Empirijski materijal za istraživanje prikupljen je kroz posmatranje
bez učestvovanja (praćenje diskusija u plenumu u realnom vremenu) kao
i kroz 12 intervjua sa studentima koji učestvuju na plenumima. Kvalitet
deliberacije plenuma se tokom pomatranja plenuma pratio kroz razrađeni
protokol koji se oslanja na indeks kvaliteta diskusije (DQI), standardizova
ni instrument praćenja kvaliteta deliberacije koji je utemeljen u normativ
nim teorijama deliberativne demokratije (Steiner). Indeksom su se beležili
aspekti inkluzivnosti koji uključuju slobodu/ometanje participacije, upo
trebu jezika poštovanja, interaktivnost i recipročnost, referisanje na inte
rese drugih i sopstvene društvene grupe, kao i na javno dobro u svojim
argumentima, upotrebu apstraktnih principa pravd
Samokanibalizujuće društvo i subjektivnost: Ka psihoanalitičkom tumačenju neoliberalizma
No full textNeoliberalizam je do sada tumačen na različite načine: kao nova forma liberalne političke ideologije, kao modus ekonomske regulacije, kao oblik kulturne hegemonije ili kao specifičan režim upravljaštva. Ipak, tek nakon finansijske krize iz 2008. godine javljaju se pristupi koji nastoje da istraže njegov uticaj na individualnu subjektivnost. Iako je Fuko ovu perspektivu anticipirao svojim konceptom neoliberalnog subjekta kao „preduzetnika samog sebe“, tek autori poput Marka Fišera (Mark Fisher) i Bjung-Čul Hana (Byung-Chul Han) pružaju detaljniju konceptualizaciju dinamike neoliberalne subjektivnosti. U ovom izlaganju oslanjamo se na lakanovsku teorijsku psihoanalizu kako bismo izgradili sistematsku konceptualizaciju unutrašnjih mehanizama psihe subjekta inkorporiranog u neoliberalni upravljački režim. Naša osnovna teza glasi da se neoliberalna dominacija prvenstveno zasniva na proizvodnji specifične forme subjektivnosti, koja se izražava kroz proces samo-instrumentalizacije. Drugim rečima, subjekt biva interpeliran od strane neoliberalnih mehanizama moći u onom trenutku kada počinje da sopstvenu subjektivnost doživljava kao oblik kapitala. Izlaganje ćemo zaključiti reinterpretacijom Hanove tvrdnje prema kojoj se depresija može shvatiti kao glavna psihička posledica neoliberalne dominacije nad subjektivnošću
Politička filozofija francuske Pete republike
No full textovaj rad istražuje političku filozofiju francuske Pete republike kroz analizu
njenog institucionalnog okvira, ideoloških osnova i specifičnog modela organizacije
vlasti. osnovana 1958. godine kao reakcija na nestabilnost prethodnih republikanskih
režima, Peta republika oslanjala se na snažno predsedničko vođstvo i većinski izborni
sistem, čime je osigurala dugoročnu političku stabilnost. Međutim, kroz istoriju, ovaj
model se suočavao sa unutrašnjim kontradikcijama, oscilirajući između ideala
narodne suverenosti i bonapartističke personalizacije vlasti. Rad analizira ključne
institucionalne mehanizme Pete republike i njihovu povezanost sa republikanskom
tradicijom i bonapartističkim elementima, osvetljavajući kako se konstituišu i
redefinišu izvršna i zakonodavna vlast. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na teorijsko
razmatranje institucija kao polja borbe za legitimitet i redistribuciju političke moći,
kroz analizu utemeljenu na sociološkim i institucionalnim teorijama Pjera Burdijea,
Kloda Lefora i Pjera Rozanvalona. Rad polazi od hipoteze da je savremena politička
kriza Pete republike inherentno povezana s njenim institucionalnim modelom koji
više nije u skladu sa novim društveno-političkim dinamikama. Kroz istorijskosociološku
i institucionalnu analizu, istražuju se strukturalni faktori koji su omogućili
dugovečnost ovog sistema, ali i oni koji su doveli do njegove postepene
disfunkcionalnosti
Beyond Reductionism: Scientific Practices and Integration in Evolutionary Psychology
No full textSince its inception by Tooby and Cosmides, evolutionary psychology – the study of universal psychological mechanisms from an evolutionary perspective – has faced persistent criticism. Chief among these is its perceived reductionism: an overemphasis on genetic determinism that marginalizes the role of culture in explaining human social behaviour. More recent critiques from within evolutionary approaches argue that the field’s future depends on its ability to integrate new insights from evolutionary theory, such as multilevel selection, niche construction theory, and gene-culture coevolution in order to better account for the cultural dimensions of human social behaviour.
Calls for interdisciplinary integration have also come from within the field. In response to critiques of genetic determinism, Tooby and Cosmides call for a conceptual integration of evolutionary psychology with sociocultural anthropology. They argue that achieving this unity requires external consistency between disciplines, accomplished through a process later described as corrective consistency checking, in which theoretical assumptions of competing disciplines are adjusted (mutually or unidirectionally) until external consistency between them is reached.
Rather than evaluating recent theoretical developments in evolutionary psychology, this talk focuses on the scientific practices of its researchers. I first present a macro-level analysis of citation patterns, exploring the extent to which articles in leading evolutionary psychology journals engage with sociocultural anthropology. This adopts a “science of science” perspective, using large-scale data to trace disciplinary interactions. Second, I share preliminary findings from interviews conducted with prominent evolutionary psychologists, exploring their views on interdisciplinary collaboration and the challenges and possibilities of conceptual integration