Dissidents in socialist Serbia

Abstract

The Serbian dissident movement emerged along with similar movements in other European socialist countries. Dissidents in Serbia and Yugoslavia arose even 10 years earlier, a fact that was associated with the activities of Tito’s former comrade-in-arms, Montenegrin Milovan Djilas. The second most important dissident was the publicist and literary critic of Russian origin, Mikhailo Mihajlov. But at the time, they were still the only ones. As a phenomenon, the dissident movement took shape a little later, drawing into its ranks figures from the artistic and scientific intelligentsia, among them mainly writers and philosophers. This movement was primarily linked to the activities of the famous writer Dobrica Čosić. His name is associated with a turn from predominantly human rights activities to defending the rights of the Serbian people in Yugoslavia. To some extent, this idea was intercepted by Serbian President S. Milošević. Figures of the dissident movement actively participated in the “Serbian perestroika” after the death of Tito. The end of the dissident movement in Serbia is connected to the emergence of a multi-party system.