Balkans

The New Balkan Revolts: From Protests to Plenums, and Beyond

Igor Štiks and Srećko Horvat

The current wave of protests and plenums in Bosnia and Herzegovina may thus represent the birth of true activist citizenship, and the profound politisation of a society over the most fundamental questions for any country, namely social justice and equality for all its citizens. What happens in Bosnia, will not stay only in Bosnia.

Over the last couple of years we have regularly witnessed popular protests and uprisings in the post-socialist Balkans. The well-known mobilisations, struggles and street violence in the southern part of the peninsula, in Greece and Turkey, have a constant and yet under-reported echo in other Balkan states.

Updated on: 7 March 2014

Utopias of Democracy -– 6th Subversive Festival in Zagreb, Croatia

Sara Valenzuela Borken-Hage

At a time when the crisis of the Euro and the doubts about the viability of the EU are deepening, South Eastern Europe continues to be centre of the crisis, the open wound; a visual reminder of the flawed dynamics that rule the collective psyches of Europe and those in control [of it]. In lieu of this, Subversive recognises the importance of this discussion and the creation of a common understanding amongst social movements at this particular moment in time.

This article originally appeared in Bturn magazine in a slightly modified version

Updated on: 1 May 2013

Adventures in the narrative: a conversation with Lawrence Weschler

Peter Vermeersch talks with Weschler about his new collection, Uncanny Valley: Adventures in the Narrative (Counterpoint Press 2011). In this book Weschler writes about digital animation, human rights, paintings, writer’s block, stories and their political importance, and, above all, faces.

Lawrence Weschler is commonly regarded as one of the foremost practitioners of non-fiction in the US.

Updated on: 14 May 2012

Escaping the Balkans? After visa liberalisation

The rise in asylum seekers following visa liberalisation in the Western Balkans.

The EU accession process has brought a variety of changes to citizens of the Western Balkans, perhaps the greatest of which has been the easing of visa restrictions.

Updated on: 30 September 2011

CITSEE, or a trip into the unknown by Jo Shaw

When I started investigating citizenship laws and policies in the new states of South Eastern Europe on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the mid 2000s, it seemed a remarkably empty field from an academic point of view. We cannot say this now!

Coming to the Balkans…