The Future Geopolitical Patterns and the Balkan States: Prediction from the Perspective of Geopolitical Theory

This paper provides a prediction of future geopolitical patterns related to the Balkan states, on the basis of assumptions offered by the Geopolitical Theory. In general, on the long-term, it is shown that the Balkan states are excluded from the possibility of acquiring cumulative advantages as preconditions for further expansion. As a result, their position in the structure of geopolitical relations gives them the character of internal states, which, if not subordinated to the expansive power, are driven by empirically confirmed patterns of confrontation and fragmentation into smaller units. However, the analysis showed that the EU can be provisionally defined as the expansive force in a given geopolitical context. Therefore, the ratio of the Balkans and the European Union demonstrates the ongoing process of expansion, so in the medium term the decrease or freeze of antagonisms, and fragmentation into smaller units that are characterized by internal states can be expected. Certainly, this trend is conditioned by the assumption that the EU has a relatively coherent geopolitical interests

Book Review of 'Embracing Democracy in the Western Balkans: From Post-Conflict Struggles toward European Integration' by Lenard J. Cohen, John R. Lampe

Understanding of complex social processes that took place in the Balkans in the past two decades is inseparable both from the specificities of the conflict in former Yugoslavia and the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe. One such attempt, especially aimed at the prospects of building democracy in the light of these processes is the study “Embracing Democracy in the Western Balkans”, written by Lenard Cohen and John Lampe

Arrangements, semiotic links and evaluations: purifying familiar environments of covid-19 among Serbia’s young professionals

Our research principally engages with the issue of encounters with COVID-19 within an everyday frame, underlining how the restoration of a “distorted” familiar environment occurs through gradual coping with such a mysterious non-human entity. The specific objective of our project was to discern how 20 young professionals from Belgrade (Serbia), whom we interviewed during the curfew, encountered, re-organized, and eventually re-settled into their common, everyday spaces and routines, while the virus was spreading in the background. Our examination first seeks to register how the distorted relationality of humans with a non-human entity – which the virus is – became distilled into everyday objectivity. More profoundly, we intended to seek understanding of what alternations the possibility of getting infected were associated with common, everyday arrangements, and how the actors pursued hygienic “purification” as a principal task. In this sense, we managed to unveil that – albeit this interplay with an invisible and rather mysterious non-human entity involved a number of confusing moments – the latter was ultimately stabilized within a specific evaluative and cognitive format that dictated the former’s actions. Being highly appreciative of domestic familiarity and intending to quite reflexively purify potentially contaminated zones and objects, our respondents also pursued a specific moral frame. In conclusion, we underline how these “purifying” actions were substantially guided by a desire to maintain the domestic order of familiarity and immediate care

Social spaces and practices : the study of everyday practices through dwelling spaces in Zemun doctoral dissertation

Predmet ove disertacije čini razmatranje svakodnevnih praksi kroz prostore stanovanja u Zemunu. Namesto prihvatanja holističkih okvira, samo istraživanje je izgrađeno na temeljima osobene ontološke matrice koja akcentuje lokalne kontingencije gde se praktični život odvija relaciono i procesualno, prvenstveno kroz formiranje ključnih odlika društvenog života kroz prostore stanovanja i njegovo odigravanje koje se zbiva kroz svakodnevne prakse. Počev od pretpostavke da se formiranjem prostora stanovanja u konkretnom slučaju Zemuna suštinski formiraju i zasebne stvarnosti i progresivno odvajaju kolektivi kroz rezidencijalne zone, ovo istraživanje stremi ka tome da rašlani vezu između društvenog života i prostora. Stanovanje je stoga preuzeto kao alternativni pristup urbanim prostorima. Promišljajući ih kao komplikovane i heterogene konfiguracije ono podvlači kako su kolektivi upućeni na različite stvarnosti i forme života, posebno kroz bitno drugačije oblike oblike prostornosti i prakse koje se mogu pratiti direktno kroz vezu sa stanovanjem. U tom smislu, primenom kombinovanog metoda koji uključuje statističku analizu, zatim analizu istoriografske građe i drugih sekundarnih izvora podataka poput propisa i urbanih planova, utvrđuju se bitne socijalne razlike između rezidencijalnih zona u Zemunu kakve su Staro jezgro, masovno izgrađena naselja, kao i izbeglička naselja. Uočavanje ovih razlika je uzeto kao osnov za izbor ukupno 15 domaćinstava gde su uočene socio-prostorne putanje izrazite. Drugi segment ovog istraživanja upravo korišćenjem etnografije pristupa komparativnom ispitivanju svakodnevice i prakse u datim slučajevima. Osim razmatranja celokupnog aranžmana u kom se obrazuje svakodnevica domaćinstava u datim slučajevima, nastoji se najpre prići bliže prostornosti u vidu smeštanja praksi, formiranja distinktivnih prostornih modusa i povrh svega, značenja koja akteri pridaju prostoru. Ono što je takođe ispitivano jeste izgled svakodnevice koji se zbiva putem tela i realizuje praksama poput čišćenja, kuvanja, nabavke, ali i postupaka koji direktno zahvataju telo poput odevanja. Utoliko, ova ispitivanja odvode ka, premda zbilja uslovnom zaključku, o postojanju dubokih socijalnih rascepa u formi života koja prate ona izražena kroz stanovanjeSubject of this dissertation consists of considering the everyday practices through the dwelling spaces of Zemun. Instead of adopting holistic framework, research itself is based upon unique ontological matrix that accentuates the local contingencies where practical life takes place relationally and processually, primarily through the formation of the principal features of social life through dwelling spaces and their enactment through everyday practices. Starting from an assumption that the formation of a dwelling space in the particular case of Zemun essentially forms distinct realities and progressive separation between the collectives through residential zones, aim of this research is to discern the connection between social life and space. Dwelling is thus taken as an alternative approach to urban spaces. Conceiving them as complicated and heterogeneous configurations that direct collectives to different realities and life forms, it underlines how the collectives are directed to different realities and forms of life, particularly through different forms of spatialities and practices that might be detected directly through link with dwelling. In this sense, using a combined method that includes statistical analysis, analysis of historiographic material and other secondary sources of data such as regulations and urban plans, significant social differences between residential zones in Zemun such as the Old Core, mass-built settlements, and refugee settlements are determined. Registering these differences was taken as the basis for selecting a total of 15 households where the observed socio-spatial trajectories are pronounced. Second segment of this research precisely revolves around employing the ethnography in order to access to the comparative examination of everyday life and practice in given cases. In addition to considering the overall arrangement that forms an everyday life of households in these cases, it seeks first to come closer to space in the form of placement of practices, the formation of distinctive spatial modes and, above all, the meanings that actors attach to space. What has also been examined is the appearance of everyday life that occurs through the body and is carried out by practices such as cleaning, cooking, shopping, as well as procedures that directly engulf the body like dressing. Overall, these examinations lead to, although a tentative conclusion, about the existence of profound social ruptures in life-forms that accompany those expressed through dwellin

Sociological Field, Fractal Distinctions and Morals: On Emergence of Analytical Sociology

In the past quarter of century, sociology encountered several distinct attempts that assign themselves a task of ample reconstruction of disciplinary grounds. Analytical sociology grows among these, as a peculiar tangle of solutions filled with causalist language common to epistemology which preceded the relativist blow in the 1960s, focused on explaining the individual actions as, original" sense of sociologist's job and restoration of Merton's mid-range theory. By following Pierre Bourdieu's theory of scientific field and the Andrew Abbott's model of fractal distinctions, this paper seeks to discern the emergence of analytical sociology. Unlike the two, common" alternatives in science studies - constructivism and realism, these approaches offer richer ground for tracing of scientific flows, by focusing on amalgamations that form scientists' practices through divisions, conventions, acclamations and mutual evaluations. Their particular advantage also is in treatment of moral dimension of scientific endeavour. After offering a brief consideration of these standpoints, we proceed by discerning the crucial segments of analytical program - its theoretical sources, the key concept of mechanism supported with specific theory of causality that prioritizes rational choices of individuals and finally, simulation method and agent-based modeling. At the end, we seek to discern the moral dimensions of both the analytical sociology and its critiques: of mechanism, as spontaneous order of social reality emerging from voluntary acts and conscious choices and the way in which a sociologist, as a professional, should treat suchlike conformity

Social after pandemic distortion: Towards thinking in planetary terms

Zajedno sa klimatskim promenama, pandemija COVID-19 predstavlja specifičan planetarni događaj, sa iznenađujućim efektima koji zahtevaju ponovno promišljanje društvenog. U radu se polazi od teze da pandemija suštinski podriva modernost i institucije suverenosti, geopolitike i političke ekonomije usled njihovog suštinskog razdvajanja od ne-ljudskih stvari. Potom, u drugom delu rada se nude četiri propozicije za bolje razumevanje planetarnih događaja, među kojima su uklanjanje razlike delova/celine, ne-relaciono mišljenje, odbijanje razlike između globalnog i lokalnog i shvatanje kolektiva kao stalno pravljenih u kontinuumu ljudi i ne-ljudi. Na kraju, razmatra se značaj spekulativnosti kao osnova planetarnog mišljenja. Uviđa se potreba za revizijom naučne prakse i pospešivanja njene senzibilnosti za uviđanje heterogenih vezivanja ljudi i ne-ljudi u planetarnim okvirima.Along with climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic represents a specific planetary event, with surprising effects that require a rethinking of the social. The paper starts from the thesis that the pandemic essentially undermines modernity and the institutions of sovereignty, geopolitics and political economy due to their essential separation from non-human things. In the second part of the paper four propositions for a better understanding of planetary events are offered, including removing the difference of parts/wholes, non-relational thinking, rejecting the difference between global and local, and understanding collectives as constantly made in a continuum of humans and non-humans. Finally, the importance of speculation as the basis of planetary thinking is considered. There is a need to revise scientific practice and enhance its sensitivity to recognizing heterogeneous attachments of humans and non-humans in planetary settings

Da li je jači osećaj mesta moguć? - antropocen, ne-relaciono i hijazme

Anthropocene debates have ultimately generated an epochal sensibility regarding the extent and scope of the human ecological footprint on the planet, but also have actualised the importance of place within intricate ecological textures. By expanding a concept of chiasm, this paper addresses the uncertain localisations in the Anthropocene era, and advocates for a stronger sense of place. First, paper criticises approaches that severely undermine place by overemphasising its function in broader spatial processes and by concentrating solely on human symbolic constructions. Secondly, it asserts that, in spite of refocusing on materiality and providing an enormous role to the non-humans as mediators in composing places, accentuating the ontology of flows found in assemblage approaches still keeps places subjugated to space. By assuming that non-relationality has to be taken seriously in the Anthropocene era, it finally discusses how places, as chiasms present partial ontological condensations with various elements being unexposed and only ‘locally’ related. Besides non- relationality, it is argued that, in order to gain a stronger sense of place, the boundaries have to be thought of as something that allows the presence instead of separation and also events that conjoin and disjoin various temporalities. Beyond this ontological attuning, the paper concludes by discussing how the architecture could convene the endurance of places within shifting chiasmic context of the Anthropocene.Antropocenske debate su konačno stvorile epohalni senzibilitet u pogledu opsega i obima ljudskog ekološkog otiska na planeti, ali su takođe aktuelizovale važnost mesta unutar kompleksnih ekoloških tekstura. Proširujući koncept hijazma, ovaj rad se bavi neizvesnim lokalizacijama u antropocenskoj eri i zalaže se za jači osećaj mesta. Prvo, rad kritikuje pristupe koji ozbiljno podrivaju mesto prenaglašavanjem njegove funkcije u širim prostornim procesima i koncentrisanjem isključivo na ljudske simboličke konstrukcije. Drugo, rad tvrdi da, uprkos ponovnom fokusiranju na materijalnost i obezbeđivanju ogromne uloge ne-ljudima kao posrednicima u komponovanju mesta, naglašavanje ontologije tokova pronađenih u kolažnim pristupima i dalje drži mesta podređena prostoru. Pod pretpostavkom da se ne-relaciono mora shvatiti ozbiljno u eri antropocena, konačno, rad raspravlja kako mesta, kao hijazme, predstavljaju delimične ontološke kondenzacije sa različitim elementima koji nisu izloženi i samo su „lokalno“ povezani. Pored ne-relacionog, tvrdi se da, da bi se stekao jači osećaj mesta, granice se moraju smatrati nečim što dozvoljava prisustvo umesto razdvajanja, kao i događaje koji spajaju i razdvajaju različite temporalnosti. Osim ovog ontološkog prilagođavanja, rad se završava razmatranjem kako bi arhitektura mogla sazvati izdržljivost mesta unutar promenljivog hijazmičkog konteksta antropocena

Social spaces and practices : the study of everyday practices through dwelling spaces in Zemun doctoral dissertation

Predmet ove disertacije čini razmatranje svakodnevnih praksi kroz prostore stanovanja u Zemunu. Namesto prihvatanja holističkih okvira, samo istraživanje je izgrađeno na temeljima osobene ontološke matrice koja akcentuje lokalne kontingencije gde se praktični život odvija relaciono i procesualno, prvenstveno kroz formiranje ključnih odlika društvenog života kroz prostore stanovanja i njegovo odigravanje koje se zbiva kroz svakodnevne prakse. Počev od pretpostavke da se formiranjem prostora stanovanja u konkretnom slučaju Zemuna suštinski formiraju i zasebne stvarnosti i progresivno odvajaju kolektivi kroz rezidencijalne zone, ovo istraživanje stremi ka tome da rašlani vezu između društvenog života i prostora. Stanovanje je stoga preuzeto kao alternativni pristup urbanim prostorima. Promišljajući ih kao komplikovane i heterogene konfiguracije ono podvlači kako su kolektivi upućeni na različite stvarnosti i forme života, posebno kroz bitno drugačije oblike oblike prostornosti i prakse koje se mogu pratiti direktno kroz vezu sa stanovanjem. U tom smislu, primenom kombinovanog metoda koji uključuje statističku analizu, zatim analizu istoriografske građe i drugih sekundarnih izvora podataka poput propisa i urbanih planova, utvrđuju se bitne socijalne razlike između rezidencijalnih zona u Zemunu kakve su Staro jezgro, masovno izgrađena naselja, kao i izbeglička naselja. Uočavanje ovih razlika je uzeto kao osnov za izbor ukupno 15 domaćinstava gde su uočene socio-prostorne putanje izrazite. Drugi segment ovog istraživanja upravo korišćenjem etnografije pristupa komparativnom ispitivanju svakodnevice i prakse u datim slučajevima. Osim razmatranja celokupnog aranžmana u kom se obrazuje svakodnevica domaćinstava u datim slučajevima, nastoji se najpre prići bliže prostornosti u vidu smeštanja praksi, formiranja distinktivnih prostornih modusa i povrh svega, značenja koja akteri pridaju prostoru. Ono što je takođe ispitivano jeste izgled svakodnevice koji se zbiva putem tela i realizuje praksama poput čišćenja, kuvanja, nabavke, ali i postupaka koji direktno zahvataju telo poput odevanja. Utoliko, ova ispitivanja odvode ka, premda zbilja uslovnom zaključku, o postojanju dubokih socijalnih rascepa u formi života koja prate ona izražena kroz stanovanjeSubject of this dissertation consists of considering the everyday practices through the dwelling spaces of Zemun. Instead of adopting holistic framework, research itself is based upon unique ontological matrix that accentuates the local contingencies where practical life takes place relationally and processually, primarily through the formation of the principal features of social life through dwelling spaces and their enactment through everyday practices. Starting from an assumption that the formation of a dwelling space in the particular case of Zemun essentially forms distinct realities and progressive separation between the collectives through residential zones, aim of this research is to discern the connection between social life and space. Dwelling is thus taken as an alternative approach to urban spaces. Conceiving them as complicated and heterogeneous configurations that direct collectives to different realities and life forms, it underlines how the collectives are directed to different realities and forms of life, particularly through different forms of spatialities and practices that might be detected directly through link with dwelling. In this sense, using a combined method that includes statistical analysis, analysis of historiographic material and other secondary sources of data such as regulations and urban plans, significant social differences between residential zones in Zemun such as the Old Core, mass-built settlements, and refugee settlements are determined. Registering these differences was taken as the basis for selecting a total of 15 households where the observed socio-spatial trajectories are pronounced. Second segment of this research precisely revolves around employing the ethnography in order to access to the comparative examination of everyday life and practice in given cases. In addition to considering the overall arrangement that forms an everyday life of households in these cases, it seeks first to come closer to space in the form of placement of practices, the formation of distinctive spatial modes and, above all, the meanings that actors attach to space. What has also been examined is the appearance of everyday life that occurs through the body and is carried out by practices such as cleaning, cooking, shopping, as well as procedures that directly engulf the body like dressing. Overall, these examinations lead to, although a tentative conclusion, about the existence of profound social ruptures in life-forms that accompany those expressed through dwellin

Violent recidivism and adverse childhood experiences in forensic psychiatric patients with impaired intellectual functioning

Accurate risk assessment and insight into which factors are associated with recidivism are essential for forensic correctional practice. Therefore, we investigated whether the Historical, Clinical, and Future–Revised (HKT-R [Historisch Klinisch Toekomst–Revised]) risk assessment instrument could predict violent recidivism over a 2-year follow-up period in forensic psychiatric patients with intelligence quotient (IQ) < 80. We refer to these patients as intellectually disabled (ID) and patients with IQ ≥ 80 as non-ID. Additionally, the associations of the 14 clinical HKT-R factors with ID versus non-ID group membership were investigated, as well as a possible moderating role of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) in these associations. The final sample encompassed 748 forensic psychiatric patients (15.9% were patients with ID) who were unconditionally released from highly secured Dutch forensic psychiatric institutions between 2004 and 2014. The results showed that the HKT-R total score (AUC = 0.705, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.527, 0.882]) and the clinical domain (AUC = 0.733, 95% CI [0.579, 0.886]) had a large effect size for predictive validity for 2-year violent recidivism, while the future domain (AUC = 0.653, 95% CI [0.524, 0.781]) and the historical domain (AUC = 0.585, 95% CI [0.397, 0.772]) had a medium effect size for predictive validity for 2-year violent recidivism in ID patients. It was also found that lower levels of self-reliance and social skills were associated with ID, indicating that treatment should prioritize these skills. However, ACE was not associated with ID, nor did it moderate the associations of the clinical HKT-R factors with ID. This study contributes to the understanding of both risk assessment and treatment of forensic psychiatric patients with ID