The aim of this paper is to examine the extent of political disaffection and disengagement of Serbian citizens from a comparative European perspective, as well as to explore the relationships between two phenomena and determine the effects of several potential predictors (structural inequalities, gender, generational differences, urban environment, political awareness and competences, national and European identification, and political discontent) on different aspects of political disaffection and disengagement. In order to do so, we have used European Social Survey data (9th round, 2018), and singled out four different subdimensions of political disaffection and disengagement: assessment of responsiveness of the political system (external political efficacy), institutional trust, assessment of individual interest in politics and capabilities to engage in political processes (internal political efficacy), and the level of actual political engagement (political participation). The aim of the paper is to shed light on different systemic, structural and conjunctural factors that may contribute to shaping political attitudes and patterns of actions in contemporary Serbia and pose several theoretical and research questions that need further investigation.
The present article analyzes the discursive articulation of resistance to the regime of Slobodan Milošević during the civil and student protests in Serbia in the winter of 1996/97. By applying critical discourse analysis to the opposition press of the time, we find that the rhetoric during the protests centered around
Late 20th century developments in social sciences and humanities have placed particular focus on the symbolic aspects of reproduction of social order, stressing the importance of discursive work in the process. It has become widely accepted that discourse is profoundly embedded in society and culture, and hence, closely related also to all forms of power and social inequality. Therefore, it rightfully assumes a central position among the research objects of contemporary social sciences. The aim of this article is to critically examine the impact of the interpretive turn on the study of culture and symbolic registers of society. The analysis focuses on three approaches to the study of discourse, culture and society: critical discourse analysis, Pierre Bourdieu?s sociology of culture and Jeffrey Alexander?s strong program in cultural sociology. These approaches are further analyzed according to their position within Burawoy?s division of sociological labor, particularly between critical and public (engaged) sociology. Finally, the author suggests that engagement in detailed reconstructions of discursive manifestations of power, symbolic struggles and/or discursive codes in a society can provide valuable insight that could open up space for social engagement. However, in order to fully grasp the importance of symbolic aspects for the everyday reproduction of social order, the focus of analysis must also be placed on the role cultural traits and practices (understood as a discursive resources like any other) play in constructing stratificational categories, identities and distinctions, masking the very roots of inequalities that created the perceived cultural differences in the first place.
Rather than being just abstract notions scholars write about, patriotism and cosmopolitanism are used by social actors in ongoing social life. Whether employed to name ?us? and exalt the values of one?s own group, or to name ?them? and stigmatize what the opponents stand for, the two terms have long served as potent discursive weapons in the struggle for various kinds of power in Serbia. While they retain some significance to this day, the peak of their intensive and consequential employment in public discourse occurred between 2005 and 2010. In this paper we aim to reconstruct the symbolic battles over the foundations of Serbian political community, based on critical discourse analysis of the discursive material produced by intellectuals and made public via Pescanik and Nova srpska politicka misao media outlets. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179049: Politics of Social Memory and National Identity: Regional and European Context]
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