New Democratic Imaginaries: Serbian Protests and Their Regional Implications

This article provides an overview of the scholarship about the ongoing (2024-) student-led protests in Serbia thus far, and introduces a thematic issue in this volume New Democratic Imaginaries: Serbian Protests and Their Regional Implications examining their regional reverberations. Sparked by the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy on 1 November 2024, which killed 16 people, the movement evolved from silent vigils into massive civic mobilization. Organized horizontally through faculty plenums and initially distancing itself from party politics, the student movement articulated demands centered on accountability, rule of law and institutional integrity. Confronted with repression, media delegitimization, and stalled judicial processes, the students gradually entered the political arena by calling for early elections and announcing their participation in it with an independent list, supported widely by the citizens and public actors. The issue situates these developments within regional and comparative perspectives. Contributions analyze media framing in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, parallels with North Macedonia’s anti-corruption mobilizations as well as previous protests in Montenegro and Serbia herself, the responses of national minorities in Serbia and Serb political representatives in neighbouring states, and the ambivalent role of the European Union.

Aleksandar Pavlović

Aleksandar Pavlović


Aleksandar Pavlović is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, with a PhD in Southeast European Studies from the University of Nottingham. He teaches courses about the Balkans through CEU/IUFU initiative. His research focuses on the cultural history of the Balkans, Serbian and Balkan oral and written traditions, Serbian-Albanian relations, and minority issues.

Gazela Pudar Draško

Gazela Pudar Draško


Gazela Pudar Draško is a Senior Research Fellow and Director at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. As a political sociologist, she has been a consultant and researcher in numerous projects with international organizations like UNDP, UNHCR, Council of Europe, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, etc. She writes on social engagement, particularly intellectuals, participatory innovations and social movements.


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