THE BEGINNING OF COMMUNITY AND UNPARALLELED PERSISTENCE: Slavija, student protest, December 2024.

Student and civic gatherings

02.July 2025 Ivan Milenkovic

The change has already happened.

"After these seven months," says psychologist Zoran Pavlović, "repression becomes quite clearly counterproductive. Regimes that use excessive force often inadvertently mobilize citizens, because violence delegitimizes the government, and gives people moral clarity and emotional strength to oppose. Repression, in other words, will not only passivize society (which the regime plans), but will only strengthen the border between 'us' and 'them', will strengthen the identity of resistance and strengthen cohesion within the group that suffers injustice. The number of people taking to the streets is not decreasing, but increasing"

Life in a broken society (2): Zoran Pavlović, professor of social psychology

02.October 2024 NS

Quarrelsome and isolated individuals are easily controlled

Various studies show that interpersonal trust in Serbia is among the lowest in Europe. The European Social Survey (ESS) from a few years ago showed that trust in politicians and political parties in Serbia is among the lowest of the 29 countries that participated in it. Quite precisely, in terms of expressed trust in politicians and political parties, Serbia is the third from the bottom (27th out of 29 places)