From Blockades to Reclaiming Politics: Serbia’s Student Uprising (Frontlines) #2

🎙️ Season 2 of This Authoritarian Life continues one another urgent frontline: Serbia.

In this episode, we speak with activist-journalists Anastazija Govedarica Antanasijević and Iskra Krstić about the student-led uprising that has reshaped political life in Serbia. What began with campus blockades after the collapse of a train-station canopy rapidly grew into a nationwide movement demanding systemic change.

How did students introduce direct democracy through plenums and zborovi?
How did they build alliances that cut across class, region, and ethnic divisions—including between Orthodox and Muslim communities?
How did environmental movements prepare the ground for this moment?
And with elections approaching, can a transformational movement survive authoritarian pressure and institutionalization?

🎧 To find out, tune into This Authoritarian Life, Season 2, Episode 2 — From Blockades to Reclaiming Politics: Serbia’s Student Uprising, with Kristóf Szombati and Erdem Evren.

Further resources:

Read Saša Savanović's piece on the meaning of "systemic change":
https://www.masina.rs/eng/with-largest-protest-in-serbia-behind-us-what-do-we-mean-by-changing-the-system/

Watch the documentary "Wake up Serbia" by director Raul Gallego Abellan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3t4EiRYzHM

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Chapters

• 0:00 Episode Teaser & Jingle
• 1:13 Introducing the Serbian Uprising
• 3:21 Meet the Guests: Iskra & Anastazija
• 5:40 How the Blockades Began
• 9:28 A Country Trained in Resistance
• 14:49 Reclaiming Democracy: Plenums and Assemblies
• 22:49 Unity Across Divides: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Solidarity
• 29:04 No EU Flags: Extractivism and Disillusionment
• 36:06 From Movement to Politics? Risks and Dilemmas Ahead
• 48:29 Acknowledgements