Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T04:47:15.840Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Not in our name: collective identity of the Serbian Women in Black

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Bojan Bilić
Bojan Bilić*
Affiliation:
School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, London, UK
*
* Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Belgrade-based activist group Women in Black has been for twenty years now articulating a feminist anti-war stance in an inimical socio-political climate. The operation of this anti-patriarchal and anti-militarist organization, which has resisted numerous instances of repression, has not been until now systematically approached from a social movement perspective. This paper draws upon a range of empirical methods, comprising life-story interviews, documentary analysis and participant observation, to address the question as to how it was possible for this small circle of activists to remain on the Serbian/post-Yugoslav civic scene for the last two decades. My central argument is that a consistent collective identity, which informs the group's resource mobilization and strategic options, holds the key to the surprising survival of this activist organization. I apply recent theoretical advances on collective identity to the case of the Belgrade Women in Black with the view of promoting a potentially fruitful cross-fertilization between non-Western activism and the Western conceptual apparatus for studying civic engagement.

Keywords

Women in BlackSerbiacollective identityanti-war activism
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , July 2012 , pp. 607 - 623
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baiocchi, Maria Lis. “Women in Black: Mobilization Into Anti-nationalist, Anti-militarist, Feminist Activism in Serbia.” CEU Political Science Journal 4 (2009): 469–500. Print.Google Scholar
Barr, Dermot and Drury, John. “Activist Identity as a Motivational Resource: Dynamics of Dis-empowerment at the G8 Direct Actions, Gleneagles, 2005.” Social Movement Studies 8 (2009): 243–260. Print.Google Scholar
Benski, Tova. “Breaching Events and the Emotional Reactions of the Public: Women in Black in Israel.” Emotions and Social Movements. Eds. Flam, Helena and King, Debra. London: Routledge, 2005. 57–78. Print.Google Scholar
Berger, Peter. A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969. Print.Google Scholar
Bilić, Bojan. “Mapping the Ephemeral: Yugoslav Civil Society Initiatives Towards the End of the 1980s.” Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe. Eds. Pleines, Heiko and Fisher, Sabine. Stuttgart: Ibidem, 2010a. 47–58. Print.Google Scholar
Bilić, Bojan. “Bourdieu and Social Movement Theories: Some Preliminary Remarks on a Possible Conceptual Cross-fertilization in the Context of Yugoslav Anti-war Activism.” Sociologija 52 (2010b): 377–398. Print.Google Scholar
Bilić, Bojan. “Staying “Sane” and Even Growing in Times of Chaos: Serbian Anti-war Activism as Therapy.” Antropologija 11 (2011a): 45–65. Print.Google Scholar
Bilić, Bojan. “In a Crevice Between Gender and Nation: Croatian and Serbian Women in 1990s Anti-war Activism.” Slovo 23 (2011b): 95–113. Print.Google Scholar
Bilić, Bojan. “Recovering (post-)Yugoslav Anti-war and Pacifist Activism: A Research Agenda.” The South Slav Journal 30 (2011c): 24–56. Print.Google Scholar
Bilić, Bojan. “A Concept That is Everything and Nothing: Why Not to Study (Post-) Yugoslav Anti-war and Pacifist Contention From a Civil Society Perspective. Sociologija 53 (2011d): 297–322. Print.Google Scholar
Blagojević, Marina. 1998. Ka vidljivoj ženskoj istoriji: ženski pokret u Beogradu 90-ih. Belgrade: Centar za ženske studije, 1998. Print.Google Scholar
Bolčić, Silvano. “Sociologija i “unutrašnji rat” u Jugoslaviji.” Sociološki pregled 26 (1992): 9–25. Print.Google Scholar
Bonfiglioli, Chiara. Belgrade 1978: Remembering the Conference Drug-ca žena. Žensko pitanje – novi pristup? 2008. Web. 20 Dec. 2009.Google Scholar
Bosi, Lorenzo and Uba, Katrin. “Introduction: The Outcomes of Social Movements.” Mobilization 14 (2009): 409–415. Print.Google Scholar
Božinović, Neda. Žensko pitanje u Srbiji u 19. i 20. veku. Belgrade: Women in Black, 1996. Print.Google Scholar
Cockburn, Cynthia. From Where We Stand: War, Women's Activism and Feminist Analysis. London: Zed Books, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
Dević, Ana. “Anti-war Initiatives and the Un-making of Civic Identities in the Former Yugoslav Republics. Journal of Historical Sociology 10 (1997a): 127–156. Print.Google Scholar
Dević, Ana. “Redefining the Public-private Boundary: Nationalism and Women's Activism in Former Yugoslavia.” The Anthropology of East Europe Review 15 (1997b). Print.Google Scholar
Duhaček, Daša. “Gender Perspectives on Political Identities in Yugoslavia.” From Gender to Nation. Eds. Rada Iveković AND Julie Mostow. Longo Editore, Ravenna, 2002. Print.Google Scholar
Erickson Nepstad, Sharon. “Persistent Resistance: Commitment and Community in the Plowshares Movement.” Social Problems 51 (2004): 43–60.Google Scholar
Flesher Fominaya, Cristina. “Creating Cohesion from Diversity: the Challenge of Collective Identity Formation in the Global Justice Movement.” Sociological Inquiry 80 (2007): 377–404. Print.Google Scholar
Fridman, Orli. “Alternative Voices: Serbia's Anti-War Activism, 1991–2004.” Diss. George Mason U, 2006a. Print.Google Scholar
Fridman, Orli. “Alternative Voices in Public Space: Serbia's Women in Black.“ Ethnologia Balkanica 10 (2006b): 291–303. Print.Google Scholar
Fridman, Orli. “'It was Like Fighting Our Own People’: Anti-war Activism in Serbia During the 1990s.” Nationalities Papers 39 (2011): 507–522. Print.Google Scholar
Goodwin, Jeff. “The Libidinal Constitution of a High-risk Social Movement: Affectual Ties and Solidarity in the Huk Rebellion.” American Sociological Review 62 (1997): 53–69. Print.Google Scholar
Hughes, Donna, Mladenović, Lepa and Mršević, Zorica. “Feminist Resistance in Serbia.” European Journal of Women Studies 2 (1995): 509–532. Print.Google Scholar
Hunt, Scott and Benford, Robert. “Collective Identity, Solidarity, and Commitment.” The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Eds. Snow, David et al. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004. 433–460. Print.Google Scholar
Jansen, Stef. Antinacionalizam: Etnografija otpora u Beogradu i Zagrebu. Belgrade: Biblioteka XX vek, 2005. Print.Google Scholar
Klandermans, Bert. The Social Psychology of Protest. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997. Print.Google Scholar
McAdam, Doug. “Recruitment to High-risk Political Activism: The Case of Freedom Summer.” The American Journal of Sociology 92 (1986): 64–90. Print.Google Scholar
McAdam, Doug. Freedom Summer. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.Google Scholar
Melucci, Alberto. Nomads of the Present. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989. Print.Google Scholar
Melucci, Alberto. “The Process of Collective Identity”. Social Movements and Culture. Eds. Johnston, Hank and Klandermans, Bert. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1995. 41–63. Print.Google Scholar
Nedović, Slobodanka. Savremeni feminizam: Položaj i uloga žena u porodici i društvo. Belgrade: Centar za unapređivanje pravnih studije, 2005.Google Scholar
Polletta, Francesca and Jaspers, James. “Collective Identity and Social Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001): 283–305. Print.Google Scholar
Sasson-Levy, Orna and Rapoport, Tamar. “Body, Gender, and Knowledge in Protest Movements: The Israeli Case.” Gender & Society 17 (2003): 379–403. Print.Google Scholar
Searle-Chatterjee, Mary. “Occupation, Biography and New Social Movements.” Sociological Review 47 (1999): 258–279. Print.Google Scholar
Slapšak, Svetlana. “The Use of Women and the Role of Women in the Yugoslav War. Gender, Peace, and Conflict. Eds. Skjelsbaek, Inger and Smith, Dan. London: Sage, 2001. Print.Google Scholar
Snow, David. Collective Identity and Expressive Forms. Web. 18 Sept. 2004.Google Scholar
Stubbs, Paul. Nationalisms, Globalization and Civil Society in Croatia and Slovenia. 1996. Web. 10 Oct 2010.Google Scholar
Stubbs, Paul. “Civil Society or Ubleha? Reflections on Flexible Concepts, Meta-NGOs and New Social Energy in the Post-Yugoslav Space”. 20 Pieces of Encouragement for Awakening and Change: Peacebuilding in the Region of the Former Yugoslavia. Eds. Rill, Helena et al. Belgrade: Centre for non-violent action, 2007. 215–228. Print.Google Scholar
Summary of the Judgment of the International Court of Justice of 26 February 2007. Web. 10 March 2010.Google Scholar
Šušak, Bojana. “An alternative to war.” The Road to War in Serbia: Trauma and Catharsis. Ed. Popov, Nebojša. Budapest: Central European UP, 1996. 479–508. Print.Google Scholar
Tanjug. Attack on Activists at the Headquarters of Women in Black in Belgrade, Serbia. 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.Google Scholar
Teršelič, Vesna. “Expanding Our Civil Space: Women in Peace Initiatives.” Women and the Politics of Peace: Contribution to a Culture of Women's Resistance. Ed. Kašić., Biljana Zagreb: Centre for Women's Studies, 1997. 19–30. Print.Google Scholar
Urošević, Miloš. “Simbolika Žena u crnom, pre i posle petnaest godina.” Žene za mir. Ed. Zajović., Staša Belgrade: Women in Black, 2007. 29–35. Print.Google Scholar
Vetta, Theodora. “'Democracy Building’ in Serbia: The NGO Effect.” Southeastern Europe 33 (2009): 26–47. Print.Google Scholar
Walder, Andrew. “Political Sociology and Social Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 35 (2009): 393–412. Print.Google Scholar
Women in Black. Women for Peace. Belgrade: Women in Black, 1993. Print.Google Scholar
Women in Black. Žene za mir. Belgrade: Women in Black, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
Zajović, Staša. “Militarism and Women in Serbia.” Žene za mir. Ed. Zajović., Staša Belgrade: Women in Black, 1993. 29–35. Print.Google Scholar
Zajović, Staša. “Dis/continuity of Repression Towards Women in Black.“ Žene za mir. Ed. Zajović., Staša Belgrade: Women in Black, 2007. 65–70. Print.Google Scholar