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The basis of this paper is the idea that post-socialist transformation doesn’t only entail political and economic changes which affect a society going through this process, but also carries with it a slew of new social phenomena which the given society interprets in a suitable way. Such new phenomena are often recognized in bits of popular culture which speak to the populace at large. Keeping this in mind, we decided to test the ways in which new social phenomena reflected in a specific Serbian television show which was popular in Serbia during the beginning of the so-called second transition. The show in question is “Mile vs. transition”, which represents a completely new form within the Serbian context, and which parodies a wide array of changed political and social relationships and values which are markers of the transition process. This television show became very popular with Serbian audiences, and it is our belief that the popularity is due to the success of this type of representation and the possibility of making fun of the system-in-the-making. On the other hand, the specificities of this particular show provided a special platform for negotiating meaning and the basic message between the creators and the consumers. In accordance with this, we have decided to focus on this aspect of the series in this study - the difference between the basic intentions of the authors and the ways in which the audience actually received the character of Mile and his relationship to the transition process. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177026: Kulturno nasleđe i identitet]

This paper examines the resilience of the farmers, which is defined as prudent. The adjective "prudent" stands here for virtue, for the actions that may not always be rational in an economic sense but are prudent from social and cultural sustainability and risk-management points of view. By relying on ethnographic research findings from rural Serbia and Kosovo, the paper argues that prudent resilience is almost always multisectoral, which enables farmers to manage parallel threats, amortize their negative consequences, ensure forward-looking, and at the same time maintain their ethical threshold. Prudent resilience as a virtuous practice cannot be measured, which is a trend imposed by global sustainability agendas. By measuring resilience, there is a danger of perpetuating the image of farmers as victims and not as competent and self-confident managers of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed how institution of child benefit might be perceived as an indicator of different social, political, economic and more broad changes not only on individual but also on general level. In that regard we traced transformations of institution of child benefit during socialism and post socialism, compared how people perceived it and what kind of relations towards property it caused. These two time frames are not taken randomly. On the contrary, they represent two different systems as well as values. While socialist system introduced welfare state, where individual security was transmitted to collective level, in post socialism individual uncertainty has become dominant feature due to the rapid disintegration of the institutions of social state. In two different settings, Vranje and its nearby villages and in Gaj village, we analyzed how child benefit shaped property relations, how persons perceived security and uncertainty, and how they coped with uncertainty during these two periods. Interestingly, in socialism people who moved from village to city and who were using child benefit were not usually claimed right to parent's land and were excluded from inheritance. On the other hand - apart from the fact that in post socialism property represents one of the main preconditions for exclusion from any social help and child benefit as well - people who live in village apply different coping strategies in order to secretly keep property and at the same time to claim child benefit even though they are not eligible candidates. We analyzed different examples of these coping strategies and argue that they represent, in fact, dynamic and creative answer to “routinized state of crises” where economic and political security and stability are missing at a state level. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 46017: Interdisciplinarno istraživanje kulturnog i jezičkog nasleđa Srbije. Izrada multimedijalnog internet portala „Pojmovnik srpske kulture“ i br. 177026: Kulturno nasleđe i identitet]

In this paper I questioned whether euroscepticism can be perceived as an immanent current of Serbian anti-western discourse, which have usually been used as synonyms by one part of public and scholars. Following the most influential conceptualisation of party positions on European Union and integration, provided by Kopecky and Mudde (2002), I classified positions of several dominant Serbian political parties according to attitudes on EU and integration. As the analysis has shown, eurosceptisism does not exist as an option in Serbian political spectrum, between euroenthusiasts, from one side, and eurorejects, on the other side. Since euroscepticism represents quite new and complex phenomenon, I showed that it has nothing to do with anti-western discourse in Serbia. On the contrary, in the second part of the paper I reveal the link between current eurorejects and the founders of anti-western ideas in Serbia, that were established in the second half of XIX century. Ujedinjena Omladina srpska (Serbian Joint Youth) was national movement of young writers and cultural workers who developed anti-western feelings and orientation in the spirit of European romanticism and ideas of national liberation. However, these ideas have been preserved and slightly changed to the present, due to specific political circumstances and almost permanent social, economic or identity crises, which were especially intensified during last two decades. Therefore, current eurorejects are real inheritors of these ideas, that are adapted to current political circumstances and vocabulary, but essentially they represent one, more or less, unchanged belief system which is worth exploring. The main object of the paper was to point out that eurosceptisism does not represent the inner side of anti-western discourse in Serbia, on the one hand, and that current eurorejects in fact continue to develop nineteenth century concept of hostility towards the other which is based on dogma, self-idealism, and romanticised images of nation, state and religion. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177026: Kulturno nasleđe i identitet]

This paper analyzes metaphors usage within political discourse, i.e rhetoric of political public speech. The analysis is based on public speech held at Vukovi sabori manifestations from 1987-2005, by active politicians or cultural elite at a given time period. Manifestations such as Vukovi sabori or Saborski dani were created primarily as purely cultural and artistic; however, they have also proven to be a good medium for messages with clear political agenda, hidden in metaphors of the speakers. These metaphors, in a political rhetoric, are thus seen as an instrument used to channel desired aims and win over potential voters. On the other hand, they also could be taken as one of the indicators of ideological-political paradigm change after 2000. In both cases, these metaphors are analyzed as a potential for promoting certain interests carrying heavy influence on key values and attitudes within the political discourse.

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The paper analyzes the universal phenomenon of conspiracy theories, which, depending on specific social or political circumstances and on the social context in general, exist as alternative regimes of truth. In both the institutional and private spheres, conspiracy theories represent a kind of cognitive apparatus by means of which individuals and groups gain certain "information" and interpretations of those levels of reality that seem exclusive, hidden and controlled by supposed centers of power. The ultimate implications of conspiracy theories can be seen in the forming of prejudices, which, particularly in certain political circumstances and in combination with populist doctrines, can have a great impact on the public and private spheres. The potential of conspiracy theories, therefore, goes beyond mere intellectual intrigue and diversion for the masses, as they lend themselves to all kinds of political instrumentalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]