Contemporary Russian-Serbian Relations: Interviews with Youth from Political Parties in Belgrade and Vojvodina
Serbia and Russia have a long historical relationship that continues to be both important and complicated in the post-Soviet era. This thesis studies how this relationship is viewed in Serbia by younger members of various Serbian political parties. The importance of this topic is that it may provide insights into future relations between the two countries. In fall 2013 I interviewed eleven young people with affiliations to different political parties in Belgrade and Vojvodina on topics such as historical relations with Russia, cultural connections, the role of economics, and geopolitics in order to determine the perception and influence of Russia’s role in Serbia today. Published materials and interviews with two experts in the field provided useful tools to analyze the collected data. My working hypothesis was that (1) participants would lack historical knowledge of relations with Russia and their opinions would adhere to those of their political parties; and (2) opinions about Russia were likely to have developed on the basis of emotional reactions to crises such as Kosovo. The interview data showed that several participants’ historical knowledge of Serbian-Russian relations was indeed strong, but that this influenced their perceptions of Russia less frequently, and, secondly, there was a wide range of opinions regarding Russia’s role and influence in Serbia. Participants tended to have extreme views of the relationship with Russia, signifying the important role that emotion plays in Serbian politics. Most participants recognized a cultural link between the two countries, but many favored a closer relationship with the EU over increased ties with Russia.
Serbia: The History of an Idea
"A highly readable narrative of nineteenth and twentiety century Serbian history told with verve and deep knowledge." --Mark Mazower, author of Dark Continent: Europe in the Twentieth Century "Pavlowitch has consistently maintained a very high standard of accuracy and scholarship in all of his work on the former Yugoslavia." -- New York Review of Books, April 25, 2002 Serbias have come and gone, and they have moved from place to place. This book looks at the historical forces, actors, ideas, and period which have molded the entities that go by the name "Serbia." In Serbia: The History of an Idea we learn about the medieval rulers and the church, the imperial rule of Ottomans and Hapsburgs, the two World Wars, the Yugoslav kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and, of course, modern Yugoslavia. At the time of Serbia's emergence from the ruins of Tito's Yugoslavia and of Milosevic's regime, Stevan Pavlowitch shuns the "doomed to violence" and the "doomed to martyrdom" paradigms favored respectively by some Western and Serbian analysts in order to pose difficult questions about Serbian history. Pavlowitch seeks to move forward from the past rather than look back to idealized ages or read history backwards from the last ten years. Serbia: The History of an Idea offers readers a look into the historical entities that have played a crucial, and sometimes devastating, role in the formation of Serbia, from the aftermath of Yugoslavia to its current political state.
Warm Hands in Cold Age – On the Need of a New World Order of Care
The world is aging as fertility and mortality are both decreasing. This article focuses on practical care work for the elderly. Such work is done primarily by women even though a larger portion than previously is paid rather than unpaid. All over the world, most elderly care work is organized within the family, most often unpaid. Men receive more care from partners than women, while women receive more care from female relatives. When care work is paid, the payment is generally low. A comparison between Germany, Spain, and Sweden demonstrates similar gender patterns, even though the role of the state in supporting care differs considerably as do care workers' conditions. The sustainability of today's distribution and organization of care work is questioned as the need for care increases, and the possibility of more equal sharing of care work between women and men is explored.