Solidarity Reasoning and Citizenship Agendas: From Socialist Yugoslavia to Neoliberal Serbia
Abstract
Solidarity and citizenship are intertwined in a very complex manner, where the former
usually operates as the “social glue” for the latter, holding together its formal components such as rights, duties, and membership criteria. The “we” that sets the parameters
for membership and equality is not only legally defined but also discursively produced
and maintained. Here, the rhetoric of solidarity plays an important yet ambiguous role,
as it can advocate for interdependence and full inclusion while at the same time
solidifying the exclusionary “we.” The aim of this article is to show how solidarity
reasoning—the question of with whom we should be solidary and why—plays a functional role in maintaining citizenship agendas, and how this reasoning changes to support and enable shifts in these agendas. The dominant solidarity narratives that have
supported prevailing citizenship agendas in Serbia (and across the post-Yugoslav
space) over the last couple of decades will be discussed, a...s will counter-narratives that
have served to destabilize hegemonic agendas by envisioning citizenship communities
differently. Today, the ambiguous role solidarity can play within a citizenship agenda
becomes especially obvious in neoliberal regimes, where, as I will show in the case of
contemporary Serbia, calls for solidarity can be deployed to foster very distinct, arguably mutually opposing, kinds of political subjectivities and citizen activism.
Keywords:
citizenship agenda / legitimizing narratives / political solidarity / reactive solidarity / Serbia / solidarity reasoning / YugoslaviaSource:
East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, 2020, 20, 10, 1-22Publisher:
- SAGE Publishing
Collections
Institution/Community
IFDTTY - JOUR AU - Vasiljević, Jelena PY - 2020 UR - http://rifdt.instifdt.bg.ac.rs/123456789/2121 AB - Solidarity and citizenship are intertwined in a very complex manner, where the former usually operates as the “social glue” for the latter, holding together its formal components such as rights, duties, and membership criteria. The “we” that sets the parameters for membership and equality is not only legally defined but also discursively produced and maintained. Here, the rhetoric of solidarity plays an important yet ambiguous role, as it can advocate for interdependence and full inclusion while at the same time solidifying the exclusionary “we.” The aim of this article is to show how solidarity reasoning—the question of with whom we should be solidary and why—plays a functional role in maintaining citizenship agendas, and how this reasoning changes to support and enable shifts in these agendas. The dominant solidarity narratives that have supported prevailing citizenship agendas in Serbia (and across the post-Yugoslav space) over the last couple of decades will be discussed, as will counter-narratives that have served to destabilize hegemonic agendas by envisioning citizenship communities differently. Today, the ambiguous role solidarity can play within a citizenship agenda becomes especially obvious in neoliberal regimes, where, as I will show in the case of contemporary Serbia, calls for solidarity can be deployed to foster very distinct, arguably mutually opposing, kinds of political subjectivities and citizen activism. PB - SAGE Publishing T2 - East European Politics and Societies and Cultures T1 - Solidarity Reasoning and Citizenship Agendas: From Socialist Yugoslavia to Neoliberal Serbia IS - 10 VL - 20 SP - 1 EP - 22 DO - 10.1177/0888325420923023 ER -
@article{ author = "Vasiljević, Jelena", year = "2020", abstract = "Solidarity and citizenship are intertwined in a very complex manner, where the former usually operates as the “social glue” for the latter, holding together its formal components such as rights, duties, and membership criteria. The “we” that sets the parameters for membership and equality is not only legally defined but also discursively produced and maintained. Here, the rhetoric of solidarity plays an important yet ambiguous role, as it can advocate for interdependence and full inclusion while at the same time solidifying the exclusionary “we.” The aim of this article is to show how solidarity reasoning—the question of with whom we should be solidary and why—plays a functional role in maintaining citizenship agendas, and how this reasoning changes to support and enable shifts in these agendas. The dominant solidarity narratives that have supported prevailing citizenship agendas in Serbia (and across the post-Yugoslav space) over the last couple of decades will be discussed, as will counter-narratives that have served to destabilize hegemonic agendas by envisioning citizenship communities differently. Today, the ambiguous role solidarity can play within a citizenship agenda becomes especially obvious in neoliberal regimes, where, as I will show in the case of contemporary Serbia, calls for solidarity can be deployed to foster very distinct, arguably mutually opposing, kinds of political subjectivities and citizen activism.", publisher = "SAGE Publishing", journal = "East European Politics and Societies and Cultures", title = "Solidarity Reasoning and Citizenship Agendas: From Socialist Yugoslavia to Neoliberal Serbia", number = "10", volume = "20", pages = "1-22", doi = "10.1177/0888325420923023" }
Vasiljević, J.. (2020). Solidarity Reasoning and Citizenship Agendas: From Socialist Yugoslavia to Neoliberal Serbia. in East European Politics and Societies and Cultures SAGE Publishing., 20(10), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325420923023
Vasiljević J. Solidarity Reasoning and Citizenship Agendas: From Socialist Yugoslavia to Neoliberal Serbia. in East European Politics and Societies and Cultures. 2020;20(10):1-22. doi:10.1177/0888325420923023 .
Vasiljević, Jelena, "Solidarity Reasoning and Citizenship Agendas: From Socialist Yugoslavia to Neoliberal Serbia" in East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, 20, no. 10 (2020):1-22, https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325420923023 . .