Are political divisions in Serbia today primarily shaped by socio-demographic differences, or by deeper geopolitical orientations of citizens? Research on public attitudes toward the student and civic protests during 2024 and 2025 suggests that the key lines of polarization increasingly follow symbolic alignments with Europe, the region, Russia, and China. These findings will be presented by Sofija Ljubišić, Junior Research Assistant at the Institute of Social Sciences.
The lecture will offer an analytical insight into the structure of contemporary political polarization in Serbia, with particular attention to the social and political cleavages that accompanied the protests in the 2024–2025 period. Rather than explaining support for or opposition to the protests through conventional factors such as gender, level of education, or region of residence, the research points to the decisive role of broader geopolitical and value-based orientations.
The analysis of survey data collected from a large sample of adult citizens of Serbia shows that pro-European and regional orientations significantly increase the likelihood of supporting the protests, while orientations toward Russia and China strongly correlate with their rejection. Contrary to common expectations, traditional socio-demographic characteristics display limited explanatory power in accounting for political behavior and attitudes toward the protests.
The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the transformation of political cleavages in Serbia, indicating that contemporary divisions are increasingly structured around two broader visions of political order – a participatory-democratic model associated with European integration, and a sovereigntist model emphasizing stability and state autonomy.
Sofija Ljubišić is a Junior Research Assistant at the Center for Political Research and Public Opinion of the Institute of Social Sciences, where she focuses on political attitudes, electoral behavior, and public opinion dynamics in Serbia.
The lecture “The Structure of Political Polarization in Serbia: Student and Civic Protests 2024–2025” is organized as part of the lecture series featuring newly appointed colleagues at the Institute of Social Sciences.