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

Eric D. Gordy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0271019581 | ISBN-13: 978-0271019581 | Publication Date: January 1, 1999

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Against the sanctimoniousness of the voyeurs and the determinists, Gordy poses a complex portrait of a shattered society. It is not that Serbs have offered no esistance to the politics of nationalist authoritarianism. Rather, the political and cultural resistance some Serbs have mustered has been suffocated by the regime's strong-arm tactics, as well as by international isolation, a twilight-zone economy, and a reckless and unprincipled political opposition. [....] Gordy has found a great wealth of material, and his analysis is not only shrewd but scrupulously nuanced. Gordy's Belgrade is perhaps best described by a rock critic who reviews a concert delayed for hours by one of the city's frequent blackouts: "We are here and now, things do not come easily for us, but that is the way it is. Belgrade is a dark forest with no end. You are in it. Pay attention to yourself and to those near you because all kinds of things happen in the dark." -- Laura Secor, Lingua Franca Magazine, November 1999

From the Publisher

A study of the political culture of Milosevic's Serbia.

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: The Pennsylvania State University Press (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271019581
• ISBN-13: 978-0271019581
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #555,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > History > Europe > Serbia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-notch research and writing, October 16, 2002

By 

Edward Bosnar - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives (Post-Communist Cultural Studies) (Paperback)

Gordy's basic premise is that the rather unpopular, corrupt and war-mongering regime controlled by Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia during the 1990s retained its hold on power by eliminating any meaningful alternatives to itself. He provides a very detailed account of how this was done in the fields of culture, politics, the media and the economy. Since the book was written and published in 1999, when Milosevic was still in power in Serbia, the basic question posed by the study, i.e. how does he manage to stay in power, should be replaced with how did he manage to stay in power so long? Otherwise, this is a vitally important study, as the matters Gordy covers here illuminate many aspects of political culture in Serbia during the 1990s - and help readers understand the country's current political malaise as well. Despite the many changes that have occurred since Milosevic's fall from power, the legacy of the `destruction of alternatives' he helped institute will continue to dog Serbian society for years to come (and, looking over the fence from Croatia, I have to add: just as the legacy of Franjo Tudjman still haunts and troubles Croatian society today and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future).

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Universally significant - not just a book about Serbia, May 30, 2003

By 

Robert Williams (Seattle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives (Post-Communist Cultural Studies) (Paperback)

Gordy identifies the methods by which the Milosevic regime, which obviously provided few benefits to its people, nonetheless maintained its power. Gordy identifies these methods as the "destruction of alternatives-" the removal of alternative political ideas, or of cultural institutions, such as popular music, that would enable individuals to unite in thought in a manner distinct from, and therefore threatening to, the regime.

This is indeed quite valuable to students of Yugoslavia or Eastern Europe; its broader value, however, is its contribution to the larger issues of power studied by sociologists and political scientists. How is power maintained? We frequently assume that individuals will revolt if conditions are so bad they have nothing to lose. Gordy documents the ability of the powerful to actually take away this option. Most mechanisms, such as cencorship, make revolt more difficult, raising the pain level people will tolerate; however, by keeping the more politically savvy urbanites near starvation, the regime actually compromised their very ability to express dissent.

Gordy provides an academic and, to the degree it is possible in social science, empirical explanation of power that is profoundly disturbing; sometimes it may be impossible to displace the powerful. True, outside forces crippled the regime; but what does this suggest about the American line that local groups should revolt to demonstrate support for democracy and earn military support? Don't throw it out yet, but Gordy presents an important argument. It also helps explain the success of earlier brutal regimes; Haile Selassie used similar techniques far more adeptly, and therefore more brutally, in Ethiopia. This book is both an insightful analysis of the Serbian regime's tactics and a significant study of the nature of power.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turbo Folk and the Cut-Out Bin of History, March 11, 2002

By 

Doginfollow (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives (Post-Communist Cultural Studies) (Paperback)

Struggling to understand how Slobodan Milosevic managed to tighten his grip on power in Serbia despite a disasterous decade of war and economic decline? Or would you just like to know why authoritarian regimes produce such terrible pop music? Eric Gordy's "Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives" is a good place to start for both questions. Though written before the war in Kosovo and Milosevic's subsequent fall from power, the book provides a useful framework for understanding both the durability of his regime and the fragility of its popular support. Prof. Gordy argues that Milosevic maintained power not through any skill in governing (the record on that score is pretty clear), but by systematically dismantling any alternatives that Serbian civil society could muster. As one would expect, Gordy covers in some detail Milosevic's attempts to co-opt, stifle and crush rival political parties and media organizations. What is unique about this book is the long chapter devoted to the underground music scene in Belgrade. The regime rightly perceived a threat to its political as well as cultural dominance, and rallied its forces behind a smarmy concoction dubbed "Turbo Folk".... This musical atrocity does not, of course, compare to those committed in Bosnia and Kosovo, but it is a chilling read nonetheless. Gordy clearly brings a mastery of Serbo-Croatian literary and musical idiom to this section. One wishes only that the book were accompanied by a CD. Though written from a sociological perspective, this book is full of lively if understated prose, and offers much to engage the non-specialist and general reader.