Structure of the Special Issue

The first section introduces the theoretical, conceptual and methodological framework, and discusses
the academic and intellectual debates in which our contributions seek to intervene. This is followed
by five case studies, where researchers present analyses of localized articulations of cultures of
rejection Austria, Croatia, Germany, Serbia and Sweden.
The final chapter identifies core features, commonalities and differences among the five cases,
investigates some of the conditions for the rejection of cultures of rejection, and discusses their
relevance for challenging authoritarian tendencies more broadly

Introduction: Cultures of Rejection: Investigating current conditions of acceptability of

authoritarian populism in Europe
Manuela Bojadžijev (Humboldt University Berlin) and Benjamin Opratko (University of
Vienna)
The article introduces the conceptual framework of cultures of rejection, explains its
trajectory situates it in current debates on right-wing populism, new authoritarianism, and
racism, and discusses its specific merits compared to other, competing approaches in the
fields of social science and cultural studies.

Multiplicity of rejection in polarized Serbian society.

Gazela Pudar Draško and Irena Fiket (University of Belgrade)

Serbian society is heavily affected by the rise of populism which goes hand in hand with
authoritarian tendencies that are perverting the core of the formal democratic institutions.
Abstention from any kind of political participation and distrust into institutions and
organization is followed by privatization of life that enhances further isolation of the citizens.
We present here the case of Serbia, based on qualitative interviews with workers held
during summer-fall 2019 and digital ethnography performed during June-July 2020, as a part
of Cultures of Rejection project. Starting with the apparent normalcy and only marginally
expressed forms of the culture of rejection in 2019, we have been able to grasp much more
rejections through the digital ethnography research in 2020.
Collected data revealed an
authentic rage and dissatisfaction among the Serbian population, articulated primarily as a
culture of rejection directed against politics and rejection of political establishment seen as
direct perpetrator of citizens' lives. This is strengthened by a deep dissatisfaction with social
conditions in the country and failure of the political actors to produce any meaningful
platform that could be credible to citizens. Serbian citizens are chained into the vicious
circle of the social isolation and political alienation coupled with the aggressive activities of
the far-right representatives and ruling party “bots”

Sve u svemu najvaznija literatura sa kojom komuniciramo nam je u vezi sa Rejection of politics and
political a u vezi sa desnicom I populizmom (rejection of politics ja poznajem ali ne I u vezi sa
desnicom)
Ovo je literatura koju su stavili na predlog special issuea- treba je konsultovati

Bojadžijev, Manuela. 2018. ‘Migration as Social Seismograph: An Analysis of Germany’s

“Refugee Crisis” Controversy’. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society
31(4): 335–56.
De Certeau, Michel. 1981. L’invention Du Quotidien. Vol. 1: Arts de Faire. Paris: Gallimard.
Katsambekis, Girogos, and Yannis Stavrakakis, eds. 2020.

Populism and the Pandemic. A Collaborative Report. POPULISMUS Interventions No. 7 (Special
Edition). Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Mondon, Aurelien, and Aaron Winter. 2020. Reactionary Democracy: How Racism and the
Populist Far Right Became Mainstream. London: Verso.

Mudde, Cas, and Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser. 2018. ‘Studying Populism in Comparative
Perspective: Reflections on the Contemporary and Future Research Agenda’.
Comparative Political Studies 51(13): 1667–93.

Sheares, Gavin, Renáta Miklenčičová, and Marián Grupač. 2020. ‘The Viral Power of Fake
News: Subjective Social Insecurity, COVID-19 Damaging Misinformation, and Baseless
Conspiracy Theories’. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations (19): 121–27.

odbijanje je politicke elite- povezivanje sa nalazima (odbacivanje struke, strucnjaka, establisment

protiv naroda) teorije zavere

2 tipa empirijskih podataka:

1. intervjui sa radnicima – Mira treba da zavrsi Gazela da joj trazi - anti establishment

15. Mart: Izestaj o podacima sa terena – Mira salje Milanu (digital ethnography tokom protesta
protiv pandemijskih mera)
16. Mart: Zoom sastanak sa empiriskim uvidima koje salje Mira

OSNOVNA LITERATURA
1. CURE PROJEKT (MANUELA PREDLOZI, FRAME SPECIAL ISSUEA, NAS KOLEKTIVNI TEKST)
2. antipolitics anti establishment
3. radikalizacija antipolitics anti establishment u vreme kriza (pandemija i reakcija na pol mere i
otpor prema struci i expertima)

31 Mart prvi draft nesredjen