Contentious Politics in the European (Post-Socialist) (Semi-)Periphery: Mapping Rebellion and Social Protests in Southeast and Eastern Europe

Abstract

This essay takes a critical and reflective look at two recently published books on contentious politics in the Balkans and Eastern Europe: Social Movements in the Balkans (ed. by F. Bieber and D. Brentin, Routledge 2018) and Ideology and Social Protests in Eastern Europe (V. Stoyanova, Routledge 2018). Focusing on regions somewhat neglected in scholarly analyses of the recent global upsurge of protests, these books aim to fill the gap by highlighting some contextual and regional specificities: a position of economic and geo-political (semi)periphery, weak or unconsolidated democratic institutions, post-socialist and transitional environments, societal (ethnic) divisions, etc. By critically assessing both contributions, in a manner that looks for their complementarity, this essay: examines the characteristics of popular mobilizations and grievances in Southeast and Eastern Europe; questions dominant narratives of political and economic transition and EU integration; re-evaluates socialist heritage and post-socialist political trajectories; discusses the (im) possibilities of articulating political alternatives to representative democracy and free market economy; and addresses the burden of conflicting memories and attitudes towards the region’s socialist past (and, in case of post-Yugoslav states, ethnic conflicts from the 1990s).

Ovaj rad se kritički i polemički osvrće na dve nedavno objavljene knjige o politikama osporavanja na Balkanu i u Istočnoj Evropi: Social Movements in the Balkans (prir. F. Bieber i D. Brentint, Routledge 2018) i Ideology and Social Protests in Eastern Europe (V. Stoyanova, Routledge 2018). Fokusom na regione koji su donekle zapostavljeni u akademskim analizama nedavnih globalnih talasa protesta, ove dve knjige nameravaju da popune tu prazninu, te osvetle neke od kontekstualnih i regionalnih specifičnosti: položaj na ekonomskoj i geopolitičkoj (polu)periferiji, slabe i nekonsolidovane demokratske institucije, postsocijalistički i tranzicioni uslovi, društvene (etničke) podele itd. Kritički procenjujući obe studije i sagledavajući ih u njihovoj komplementarnosti ovaj rad se dotiče sledećih problema: karakterisike masovnih mobilizacija i protesta u Jugoistočnoj i Istočnoj Evropi; propitivanje vladajućih narativa o političkoj i ekonomskoj tranziciji i evropskim integracijama; ponovno vrednovanje socijalističkog nasleđa i postsocijalističkih političkih putanja; (ne)mogućnost artikulisanja političkih alternativa predstavničkoj demokratiji i tržišnoj ekonomiji; teret sukobljenih sećanja i stavova prema socijalističkoj prošlosti.