SYMBOLIC STRUGGLES IN SERBIA – A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF DAILY NEWSPAPERS FOR THE PERIOD 2006 – 2013

Abstract

Contemporary Serbian society is divided in many ways. Certain divisions are more conspicuous than others, for instance the political ones, while some of them still participate in the distribution of power in the social field, although it is not that transparent. This was particularly the case during the time of the division into the “first” and “second” Serbia (Spasić, Petrović, 2013). During the analysed period (2006–2013), Serbia became an independent country and an ostensible consensus was reinforced regarding the adoption of European values4, the path to the EU and a peaceful future. The divisions following the regression of nationalist forces on the public scene in Serbia are not as clear-cut as in the previous period, before the declaratory, one could even say partly “tactical”, unification of political forces over the EU path. The aim of this paper is to sketch the outlines of symbolic struggles in contemporary Serbian society through a content analysis of daily newspapers for the period 2006– 2013. Bearing in mind that the analysis covers a longer period, it is expected that it can provide an insight into the shift in the balance of the struggle. Findings imply the presence of symbolic struggles in the political arena, as well as in the area of ethnic relations as the most dominant ones. This trend is maintained throughout the observed period.