Columns
Ahead of the BNC Elections: Democracy and Pluralism Before Unity, Authority, Parties and Projects
Ahead of the elections for the Bosniak National Council, Emir Bihorac examines the approaches of Bosniak political parties and proposes a different model: a non-partisan, secular and pluralistic Council that preserves Sandžak's heritage and protects the interests of all Bosniaks.
From Left-Wing Form to Right-Wing Substance: The Paradox of the Student Movement
The student movement has brought plenums, direct democracy and collective decision-making back into Serbia's political life. However, Emir Bihorac asks why workers' rights, class relations and economic democracy have been largely absent from this model. He examines how a movement using methods traditionally associated with the left may narrow the space for its development and what consequences this could have for democracy.
Who Said the 21st Century Had to Be Better?
Wars, poverty, violence, discrimination, people without water or electricity. Whenever something happens that we consider unacceptable, someone will almost certainly say: “How is this possible in the 21st century?” That sentence reveals how accustomed we have become to believing in progress that is supposed to happen on its own. But history has no obligation to improve simply because the date has changed.
From self-criticism to civilisation: How societies change when they learn to question themselves
Emir Bihorac writes about self-criticism as a civilisational skill and about societies that find it far easier to identify an external culprit than to confront their own responsibility. Through examples from Belgrade and Sandžak, universities, politics and religious institutions, the text examines the gap between knowledge, rules and their actual implementation.
From Loyalty to Rules: How to Break with the Politics of Personal Relations
From the Habsburg and Ottoman empires to Tito, Vučić, the Student List and the European Union, Emir Bihorac traces the historical roots of a political culture in which personal and collective loyalty often remain stronger than institutions and rules.
Bosniaks Between Functionality and Moral Education
Starting from Kant, the Islamic tradition and the contemporary position of Bosniaks, Emir Bihorac examines the relationship between functional institutions and the moral education of the individual, the problem of living between two models, and the question of which social direction Bosniaks, particularly in Sandžak, should choose.
Guardians of Hopelessness: How SDA Reached the Brink of Disappearing from the Political Scene
From a political movement that once brought together almost all Bosniaks in Sandžak to the third-ranked Bosniak party, Emir Bihorac analyzes how authoritarianism, the loss of voter trust, weakening in Novi Pazar and the BNV, and the exhaustion of its political narrative brought SDA Sandžak into one of the most difficult positions since its founding.
Why is Serbia a state, while the other states are former Yugoslav republics?
From the creation and collapse of Yugoslavia to succession, political memory and relations with neighbouring states, Emir Bihorac examines why Serbia is still often perceived as “the state”, while the others are reduced to “former Yugoslav republics”.
Twenty Minutes of Being Human
What happens when strangers stop seeing one another as political categories, profiles and members of the “other side” for twenty minutes and simply dance together? A Berlin street performance opens a much larger question: how much do societies need spaces where people can simply be together without arguing, buying or needing an enemy?
Stay Quiet, It Has Always Been This Way: How the Exploitation of Young Doctors Became the Rule
Medicine is still presented to young people as a calling, while the system expects them to stay quiet, work without security and wait for dignity as if it were a reward.
Half-truth as the new norm
Why lies are no longer necessary. How to speak with just enough truth to avoid lying, yet enough omission to manipulate.
Fatigue as a political fact
People are not apathetic because they “don’t care,” but because they are exhausted. Fatigue as the ideal ground for manipulation.
Noise without meaning
How did we get to a point where everyone has an opinion, but few have any criteria? Media, networks, an endless conflict, a constant sense of urgency.