ESTADO DEL ARTE

differences in levels of economic development, the failure of the communist regime's nationality policy and the inherent tensions between the forces of centralisation and enhanced republicanisation. See, Ramet, Sabrina, Petra and

an incom plete process o f modernisation^», re-introduced re lig io n as a self-repairing societal mechanism. By m odernisation I specifically im p ly to t^e inconclusive outcome o f secularisation in Serbia. That is the fa ilu re o f the socialist discourse to construct on a ll levels, - through d iffe re n tia tio n - identities and systems o f meaning w hich are sacralised by agencies other than the in s titu tio n o f r e l i g i o n ^ ^ . Hence,

stru ctu ra l, p o litic a l and cu ltu ra l conditions have allowed fo r the re­ exam ination o f the role o f the la tte r in influencing the m agnitude and pace o f social evolution, in the context o f an atom ised society. This developm ent m aterialised w ith in an étatist fram ew ork th a t was the sole o rig in a to r o f social organisation and in itia to r o f collective action.

Lenard J., Broken Bonds: The disintegration o f Yugoslavia, (Boulder, Colorado:

Westview Press, Inc., 1993); Sekelj, L., Yugoslavia: the process o f disintegration,

translated by Vera Vukelic, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993). A final appraisal on the issue, shall be provided in the concluding analysis.

2» See, Perovic, Latinka, “The flight from modernisation,” in Popov, Nebojsa

(ed.). The road to War in Serbia: Trauma and Catharsis, (Budapest: Central

European University Press, 2000), pp. 109-122.

It should be emphasised that even if the communist project of secularisation had been ‘complete,’ it would still have amounted to a secularisation of Serbian Orthodoxy, leaving residues o f religion that would define the Serbian thought and

style. A sim ilar process was experienced by the French people who though

m ainly secular (laïcité) continue to ascribe to religious sentiments (Catholic or Protestant).

Anomie, co rruption, de-legitim ation, endemic populism,3o the demise o f state a u th o rity and nationalism , the traum a o f ethnic wars and messianic leaders -prom ising deliverance and an era o f peace and prosperity- have since plagued the post-com m unist experience and discourse o f the Serbian society. Radical ideologies, intolerance o f d ive rsity and h o s tility to ind ivid u a lism found th e ir expression in popular appeals to the national co lle ctivity. A sense o f helplessness and despair emanated from instinctive reactions against changes in the tra d itio n a l way o f life , “im posed” by unknown and a ll-po w erful social and economic forces th a t were located in foreign capitals^!. In

On the concept of populism, see the treatise on the subject, by Held, Joseph

(ed.), Populism in Eastern Europe: Racism, Nationalism and Society, (Boulder: East

European Monographs, 1996). The chapter by Dragnich Alex N., “Populism in Serbia,” is of particular significance, fram ing the “populist” phenomenon w ithin the country's historical context, pp. 219-243.

I specifically refer to popular beliefs, which generally identify the Balkan region and Serbia (in particular) as the recipient/subject of conspiracies, -in the form of policies aimed deliberately against Serbian interests- form ulated in remote and foreign centers of power and decision-making. W hile the im pact of the so-called “Great Powers” in the region is a historical fact, their extent and scope remains a m atter of debate. References to a pre-determ ined course of history, beyond the control of the people concerned, is in itself an im portant

aspect of Serbian populism. More im portantly, it reduces the institution of

society and that of the Serbian polity on the whole, to a passive agent hence undermining the country's democratic project. On the influence o f the “Great

Powers” in the region see, Glenny, Misha, The Balkans 1804-1999: Nationalism,

these circumstances, re lig io n provided a topography o f perceptions and a language fo r the a rticu la tio n o f common grievances and views not catered fo r w ith in established p o litic a l conventions^^. Religious beliefs as a pervasive aspect o f social life th a t satisfies psychological and societal needs, were necessary in order to ensure the s ta b ility o f the Serbian society and to embody a kind o f tru th .

As M arx concisely observed, “ men make th e ir own h isto ry b u t they do not make it ju s t as they please; they do n o t make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, b ut under... (those) d ire c tly encountered, given and transm itted from the past.^^” Thus, the need to form ulate the past in order to define and determ ine the present was accompanied by the review o f both the Serbian ontology and cosmology. Popular h istorical discourses, inclu din g the g lo rifica tio n .

It is not my intention to “reduce” religion to a single populist discourse. However, its adaptability in given historical conditions, the anthropocentric bias, observable in the case of Christianity and the desirability of a direct relationship with its communal basis, entail broad populist precepts. See, lonescu,

Ghita and Gellner, Ernest, Populism: its meaning and national characteristics,

(Letchworth: The Garden City Press, Ltd, 1969), in particular the chapter by Edward Shüs.

Quoted by Lukes, Steven, Power: A Radical View, (HoundmiUs, Basingstoke:

Macmillan Press Ltd, 1974), p. 22. The excerpt is taken from Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte”, in Marx and

Engels, Selected Works, (Moscow: Foreign Languages Pubhshing House, 1962), Vol.

m ystificatio n and falsification o f the national genealogy and past^^ emerged as a source o f in sp ira tio n upon the basis o f w hich, images could be evoked, boundaries erected and social form s and figures could be created. Social dislocation and losses in adaptation brought in to the fore, values associated w ith heroism in the b attle fie ld and va lo u r w ith the p rim al p o in t o f reference being the battle o f Kosovo.

The present is attached to the past through com m em orative rites and ecclesiastical cerem onial, w hich seek to d is til a w o rld o f experience in to its basic qualities as these are c u ltu ra lly conceived. This has reasserted the im portance o f the desired role that a revived religious dim ension should perform in the Serbian society - in its incom pletely secularised context. In p articula r, the placem ent o f the Serbian O rthodox Church -a so cia l/cu ltu ra l in s titu tio n w ith p o litic a l am bitions and potential- is v ita l, as in many ways she encapsulates the "Serbian e x p e r i e n c e d ^ / ' Religion in its pure o r re viva list fo rm is

d4 The Serbian peoples are not necessarily aware of their nation’s historical con tribu tion(s) to the demise of the Byzantine Empire. These included Tsar Dusan’s attack on Byzantium, which resulted to an Ottoman involvement in the support o f the latter, or the Serbian collaboration w ith the Turks, on certain

battles. See, Clark, Victoria, Why Angels Fall: A Journey through Orthodox Europe

from Byzantium to Kosovo, p. 76.

d5 Experience is interpreted in accordance with the argument essayed by traditions. Tradition, in ecclesiastical terms "...would appear as something added, as an external principle in relation to Scripture." Quoted by Lossky, V ladim ir

"Tradition and Traditions," in Ouspensky, Leonid and Lossky Vladim ir, The

Meaning o f Icons, (Crestwood, New York: St. Vladim ir's Seminary Press, 1982), p.

essential to the creation o f the social-political cosmos, in w hich a cu ltu re o f Serbian nationalism finds significance.

According to Hegel, "man is this nigh t, this em pty nothingness w hich contains everything in its s im p lic ity ;... representations, images, in fin ite in num ber, none o f w hich emerges precisely in his m ind, o r w hich are n o t always present... The power o f draw ing images o u t o f th is n ig h t o r o f le ttin g them slip away in to it, (th is is) the fact o f positing oneself, in te rn a l consciousness, action,

d i v i s i o n ^ 6 " The religious capacity to evoke images and to in te rp re t

circum stances beyond th e ir p u re ly em pirical substance, in o ther words, the a b ility to produce transcendental imagery, found its ideal application in the Serbian society -based on its in te rn a l necessities and cu rre n t mode o f being. W ith in the lim ita tio n s o f h isto rical developm ent, re lig io n m aintains the Serbian com m unity o f fa ith fu l in an organised m anner by relating orders, commands, inducem ents and consequences fo r actions and by rendering th e ir substance, in appearance at least, o b ligatory and b ind ing fo r its adherents. A co rrela tion may be hence draw n between re lig io n and the two-

d i m e n s i o n a P ^ in te rp re ta tio n o f power, by view ing the form er as an

exercise o f choice th a t is lim ite d in an o vert and a covert fashion.

Quoted by Castoriadis, Cornelius, The Imaginary Institution o f Society,

(Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), pp. 388-9. Hegel’s quotation forms a part of his

treatise, Jenaer Realphilosophie (1805-6), (Berlin: Akad. Verlag, 1969).

This process is o nly validated w ith in a broader assum ption th a t places a “ religious content” in alm ost every member o f the Serbian com m unity. O f course, in the p a rticu la r id e n tity , various gradations could be id e n tifie d , inclu din g the radical dualism between believers and sceptics/atheists th a t consequently do not allow fo r a sim p listic o r u n ifo rm treatm ent o f the religious subject. W hile these gradations are socially prevalent -a ttrib u te d p rim a rily to the com m unist legacy- it is the perform ative enactm ent o f religion, as a refe rent o f o rder o r as an exegetic sig n ifie r (affecting m any n on -ove rtly religious persons who e xh ib it a behaviour influenced by the O rthodox tradition)^8 th a t is significant at this stage o f m y syllogism . Religious belief w ould not m itigate the problem o f anomie in the Serbian society, unless its members, who comprise the nation, collectively proclaim its value. O nly then, re lig io n could fu n ctio n as a ra lly in g p o in t fo r those Serbs who seek to s p iritu a lly lim it the traumas o f disorder and devastation o f th e ir cu rre n t social conditions.