Hybrid seminar
- École française d’Athènes, Didotou 6
- Follow online / Suivre en ligne

Bridging Civil Society and the State: Associations, Activism, and Political Change in 20th Century Yugoslavia and Post-Yugoslav States
Isidora Grubački, Nesa Vrečer & Saša Hajzler Institute of Contemporary History Ljubljana
In collaboration with the CETOBaC, the Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, and the Modern Greek History Research Center of the Academy of Athens
How can we analyze the dynamic relationship between state and society across different regimes in 20th century East Central Europe and the Balkans? This seminar explores case studies from interwar and socialist Yugoslavia, as well as post-Yugoslav countries, to examine shifts in state-society relations and the role of associations within different social and political systems. Speakers from the Political History group at the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana will present their ongoing research. Topics include voluntary associations and political activism during the 1930s Popular Front, the structure and function of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (Socialistična zveza delovnega ljudstva Jugoslavije, SZDL)—a broad umbrella organization encompassing voluntary and professional associations, from fire brigades to media outlets—and, in the post-socialist period, the transition of social movements from voluntary associations into formal political parties, bypassing NGOs as intermediaries between civil society and the state. Ultimately, the seminar raises questions about the potential for studying these transformations within a shared analytical and methodological framework.
https://www.efa.gr/events/semmod-14-05-25/