Academia in Dialogue: Active Citizenship and Democracy in the Western Balkans

The crisis of representative democracy has become a global issue, highly debated in the EU as well, where it was tangibly manifested through low election turnout, a progressive withdrawal of citizens from the arenas of democratic participation and in the consequent rise of populism and far-right tendencies. The post-socialist and post-conflict societies of the Western Balkans are experiencing additional challenges such as the infinitely prolonged interregnum accession to the EU, as well as the rise of the so called “stabilocracy”, a type of government where the EU is de facto ready to turn a blind eye on authoritarian, populist and anti-democratic Balkan leaders as long as they vouch for political stability in the fragile region.

However, recently we have witnessed an upsurge of civic dissatisfaction with this trend. Different kinds of citizens’ mobilizations against authoritarian tendencies, for greater inclusion of citizens in the decision-making processes and for more democratization in general have started emerging: from the so-called colourful revolution in Skopje, to the plenums in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to civic initiatives tackling urban rejuvenation projects, to various forms of less-visible ‘every-day, discrete activism’ in smaller communities. They all exhibit a willingness to democratize these societies from the bottom-up.

In these demands for greater citizen participation in the Western Balkans, people look to their own past in search for inspiring traditions such as the self-management models of the former Yugoslavia as well as participatory strategies and democratic innovations from different social movements throughout Europe.

The workshop gathered scholars, activists, civil society organizations and experts who discussed the following:

- EU integration of the Western Balkans: failure or stagnation? Critical approaches to   key explanatory notions: transition, internal lack of democratic traditions, EU enlargement fatigue.

- Transition to what? Examining the “true” indicators of democratization; social justice, rule of law, democratic procedures, civic participation.

- Civil society organizations and the promotion of democracy: whose allies?

- Critical approaches to the notion of populism: who can represent “the people”?

- New social movements and protest culture in the Western Balkans: agendas, actors, and ideologies.

- Inspiring models and networking: what do social movements in the Western Balkans share with similar movements in Europe?

- Democratic experimentations: direct democracy, horizontality, and every-day activism; challenges and obstacles.

- Regional synergies and the creation of “Yugosphere”: from Yugo-nostalgia to new regionalism.