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'It was like fighting a war with our own people': anti-war activism in Serbia during the 1990s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Orli Fridman
Orli Fridman*
Affiliation:
SIT Study Abroad: Balkans & Faculty of Media and Communications (FMK), Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia
*
* Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article discusses anti-war and anti-nationalism activism that took place in Serbia and, particularly, in Belgrade during the 1990s. It analyzes anti-war activism as aiming to combat collective states of denial. Based on fieldwork research conducted in 2004-05, and particularly on an analysis of interviews conducted with anti-war activists in Belgrade, this text closely analyzes the nuanced voices and approaches to activism against war among Serbia's civil society in the 1990s. The article highlights the difference between anti-war and anti-regime activism, as well as the generation gap when considering the wars of the 1990s and their legacy. Finally, this text emphasizes the role of Women in Black as the leading anti-war group in Serbia, and examines their feminist street activism which introduced new practices of protest and political engagement in Belgrade's public sphere.

Keywords

anti-war activismSerbiaWomen in Blackdenial
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , July 2011 , pp. 507 - 522
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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