Country of Defeated People

The Sociological Research Institute of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade studied the day-to-day life in Serbia in 1991-1995, focusing on the areas of major social changes, altered rules, patterns of behaviour and changed quality of life. The chief of the project was Prof. Silvano Bolcic.

This research is a sociological testimony of the "lead times" of the 90's, during which we have lived under collective, group or individual stress, says Prof. Sreten Vujovic, one of the authors of the project. "The selection of the theme, the Day-to-Day Life in the 90's, was not a haphazard one. Great ideologies of the 20th century - nazi/fascism, Stalinism and also this ideology of ethno-nationalism - pushed out the day-to-day life, subordinating it to superior goals, either the blood-and-land fiction, or the projection of the new man who will become reality in the classless society. I think the same thing applies to the ideology here - first the national question and the state, and only after that the day-to-day life," says Prof. Vujovic.

The first part of the research analyzes the global social changes, the so-called post-socialist transition which changes the important features of the society - from the demographic picture, values, sphere of work, to the urban day-to-day life and the spread of the small-town syndrome.

Serbia of the 90's is a country of defeated people and defeated economy. The impoverished population is opposed to the small economic elite whose personal amassing of wealth, as a rule, is not related to the welfare of the society. Who are the nouveau riche? Mostly businessmen, two thirds of them being former managers (that is, directors of former socially-owned companies), or their close relatives. The study showed that none of them were rich before they became owners of the companies, but that the amassing of wealth came as a consequence. They are people of various social backgrounds. Differentiation occurred among the former directors, most of whom retained their political positions. The ones who got rich were those who were close to the market sector of economy during the sanctions, when criminal acts dominated over the legal ones. Noticeable differentiation occurred also among farmers (according to the study, ten percent of the farmers are among the wealthiest citizens of Serbia of the 90's).

Members of the new economic elite are, in most cases, semi-educated. The majority of the company owners have secondary education (66 percent) while only 16 percent have higher education. Eighteen percent of the businessmen have completed only up to eight years of primary education.

Choosing between the deteriorating socially-owned companies, unemployment and survival, professionals get involved in the illegal affairs of the "gray economy" and take jobs with private companies. These companies are more flexible when it comes to making deals, salary is more certain and, unlike the socially-owned companies, the owners are willing to evade regulations. Prof. Bolcic says that many employees, both in private and in socially-owned companies, are doing jobs far below their qualifications and outside their professions, because they have to do any odd job the company takes. They are forced to apply simpler technologies than those required by modern business. If this form of de-professionalism work continues, it might have negative consequences regarding the quality of labour force. Many of those who were concerned with what kind of country they lived in, what kind of company they worked for, what their work, life, social and cultural perspectives were - no longer live here.

The survey carried out in 12 municipalities throughout Serbia in 1994 showed that the ones most likely to leave the country were young, urban intellectuals. Of the 385 persons who participated in the survey, 34 percent said the most important reason to leave the country would be the fact that it would take long before one could live from one's work in this country. Others believed that if they went abroad, it would be easier to accomplish the desired standard of living (29 percent), to get appropriate salaries (14 percent) and to ensure safer future for their children. Only three percent stated higher-quality professional work as the reason to leave.

According to family status, the most likely to leave were single mothers (33 percent), while singles and couples without children were the least likely (86 and 87 percent, respectively). There were 11 percent of those who for patriotic reasons did not want to go and live abroad and 23 percent who could not go because of their family situation. If these objective obstacles did not exist, the flight would have even greater proportions. In addition to war and poverty, people leaving the country are the gloomiest image of Serbia of the 90's. According to unofficial figures, half of the people who left the country had permanent jobs here.

What occurred in the cities, especially in Belgrade, has resulted in the destroyed society - seizure of city land, privatization of apartments, illegal construction of Mafia managers' villas in attractive city locations, rise of criminal rate and primitivism, emigration of citizens and immigration of provincial population, dislodging, plunders, attacks on ethnically mixed families. The city and the civil were symbols of something that was to be destroyed.

Belgrade is a shattered city; the values which used to make it an open, European metropolis have changed, said Prof. Sreten Vujovic. "What is happening in Belgrade can be described as re-traditionalisation - this can be seen not only in the day-to-day life, but also in public events. The symbols and images denote the past. This ideology was introduced by ethno-nationalists, in the first place the intellectual elite, or its majority. The ruling elite accepted it. Unfortunately, whenever intellectuals tell the people that they are living poorly and miserably and that someone else is to blame, a leader emerges and initiates realisation of a national project, related to many unresolved issues and great risk, which leads into lost battles, as was the case here," said Prof. Vujovic. He said that there had been some people in Belgrade who thought differently and that some others sobered up and realised it was time we stopped opposing the rest of the world and took control of our lives. "I believe Belgrade will learn a lesson and turn toward the future, that it will start seeking happiness instead of glorifying the ruler, power or force," he said.

The gloomy atmosphere of the 90's will for a long time be defying the announced step into the new century and the promised prosperous society. After all that has happened, the most likely perspective for the people in this region is a semi-suburban society with authoritarian rule. This is what the challenge of the post-socialist transformation in Serbia has been reduced to.

In the next issue: Family in the Whirl - the day-to-day life from women's point of view - Children seek help

Antrfile I

The Picture of Serbia

Production: In 1991, the first year of the war, industrial production dropped down to 16 percent of what it used to be, in two years' time, the GNP which was 2,330 dollars per capita melted down to only 1,225. It is estimated that of the working-age population of 2.3 million, over one million are jobless and another 700,000 temporarily dismissed. From January 1992 to January 1994, there was hyper-inflation of 60 percent a day. Strikes of workers, clerks and experts.

Expenditure: A drastic decrease of the population's purchasing power, empty shops, introduction of coupons, smuggling, storage of household supplies and "shopping" from trash-cans. Contrary to expectations, the middle class survived the crisis. Thanks to the supplies made in better times and "gray economy," it does not plunge into the lowest social layer.

Communication: Formation of ghettos, poor communication of people and goods, the state and party monopoly over television, regime's strangulation of independent media.

Administration: Inefficiency, voluntarism, nepotism, corruption, robbery of foreign currency accounts, irregular salaries and pensions given in installments and at one point (1993) even paid in kind.

Health care: Shortage of medical supplies. For a country which is not at war - a substantial number of casualties, people with mental disorders, increased number of suicides among the elderly. In Belgrade, death rate higher than birthrate; drop of birthrate and high death rate of newborn babies, the highest in 1993. Epidemics of contagious diseases and strikes by doctors and nurses.

Safety: Increase of fear, anxiety, unprecedented crime rates, especially organized criminal, frequent violence in streets and pubs, increased number of policemen.

Culture: Shortage of money, broken ties with foreign countries, replacement of directors of several renowned cultural institutions, new slogans, symbols, new names of streets, forming of intellectuals' organizations of various orientations - from fascist to liberal, and finally, last year, the Culture Ministry's campaign called "It is nicer with culture."

Education and science: Shortages, teachers' strikes, mass strikes of high-school students and mass anti-regime movement of university students (1992), new school headmasters and university deans to suit the taste of the regime, Marxism and National Defence dropped out from the school curricula, establishment of Police Academy and Teachers' Faculty. Since 1990, nearly 1,000 scientists with doctor's or master's degrees left Serbia.

Leisure: Fewer people go on vacation, more people go to theatres and there is an overall frenzy for the so-called "new folk music," increased number of prophets, new fashion detail - conspicuous gold crosses worn on chains by both men and women. Novelty: organized dog fights for the pleasure of the nouveau riche.

Solidarity: Help to Serbs outside Serbia, refugees and exiles from the war-stricken areas. There are about 650,000 refugees in Serbia. Repulsion and fear of refugees.

Antrfile II

Resistance Model

Mladen Lazic, Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy and one of the authors of the study, says that since 1990, each year we have had less of a chance to turn the developments in a positive direction. "Despite the somewhat improved material position in 1994, the basic negative tendencies in the transformation of the society have remained, without a chance for any kind of interest organization. For example, the number of private businessmen has not increased, nor have they become more influential, nor have their perspectives broadened. They could be the force for the transformation of the society, but they have not improved. On the contrary. The tendencies which are transforming this group from a primitive and greedy social status to a group which could be economically influential have worsened. There is also the middle class whose position is deteriorating. And there is a number of the so-called status troubles: disappearance of connections, of a particular attitude or system of values and, in a way, of the professional ethics which require a certain kind of behaviour."

How long could the confusion of values last?

"For a long time, especially with the country being relatively isolated. I think that there will be no major foreign intervention as regards the change of the situation in the region, except for the formal ones. In such a situation, the state achieves a certain degree of integration by open or hidden force - systems of manipulation. The more disintegrated the society, the more powerful the authorities, until the system explodes. Such authority is not stable, it only seems stable and in case of unforeseen circumstances the system could easily break apart."

What might cause a turn and at least some improvement?

"Certainly not expression of discontent concerning the political or economic situation. The turn could start from inside. The ruling group is not systematically organized as it was in socialism. It is based on a consensus which, from one case to another, combines force and interest. A stronger resistance in the cultural or political sense might bring changes if each of the opposition groups abandoned the idea it is trying to impose, if the only model were pure resistance."

Authoritarian Tendencies

One of the values which social groups consider important in the day-to-day life of the '90s is authoritarianism which was additionally encouraged by the disintegration of the state, by war, sanctions and economic collapse. Sociological research shows that strong authoritarian tendencies exist among 1/5 of experts, 2/5 skilled workers, 3/5 farmers, while moderate authoritarianism is expressed by another 1/4 of experts, 1/4 skilled workers, and 30 percent farmers. Only among experts and the unemployed (in this research - young people with university diplomas) are authoritarians not a majority.