The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives (Post-Communist Cultural Studies) [Paperback]

How does the regime of Slobodan Milosevic and his Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) remain in power? Since legitimizing its power in 1990, the SPS has never received a majority of votes in an election. Furthermore, it has been defeated in three military conflicts, produced more than 500,000 refugees, presided over the most extreme hyperinflation in modern times, and failed in its original defining promise to see "all Serbs in one state." In The Culture of Power in Serbia, Eric Gordy explores how the Milosevic government prolongs its tenure despite failures and setbacks that would have brought down most other regimes. Gordy finds the answer in everyday life. The Milosevic regime has largely succeeded in making alternatives to its rule unavailable. By controlling key aspects of daily life, including politics, media, and popular music, it has undermined opposition by closing off alternative voices. The result is an atmosphere in which people feel they have lost control over their private life and cultural environment.Nevertheless, Gordy finds reason to be optimistic about the long-term prospects for Serbia. The regime's forays into popular music have largely failed, and it has had only partial success in controlling the media, suggesting that the present strategy will not work forever. In Gordy's judgment, the Milosevic regime has a limited future.The Culture of Power in Serbia provides fresh perspective for readers interested in contemporary Eastern Europe, in the strategies and tactics of authoritarian regimes, in the sociology of everyday life, and in the political potential of culture.

How does the regime survive?
This book is trying to answer a question many people who follow events in the Balkans have asked themselves: how does the regime in Serbia survive? It is unpopular, widely regarded as illegitimate, has lost all of the conflicts it has entered in the name of nationalism, and yet it seems to hang on with a mystifying tenacity.

I tried to answer the question by looking at some aspects of everyday life in Serbia which are not conventionally thought of as political, but which have had political implications. This led me to a general idea which explains the persistence of Milosevic--and which can also explain the longevity of a lot of authoritarian regimes. The regime does not survive by generating support, but by exhausting people with frustration. I try to show how this works in formal politics, in information, in music and in sociability.

The big question remains, of course: when and how will the regime end? I do not have a prediction, but the conclusion suggests some places to look for answers.

I would like to thank all of the people who are interested in my book. I wrote it in order to help people understand the situation in Serbia from the ground level, and I will be happy if it succeeds.

Eric Gordy is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clark University. His articles have been published in the journals Problems of Post-Communism, Popular Music, and Pacific News Service.