‘We Are All Beranselo’: Political Subjectivation as an Unintended Consequence of Activist Citizenship

Abstract

Drawing on Jacques Rancière and Engin F. Isin, this essay discusses the success of a citizen-led mobilisation in rural Montenegro that eschewed the country’s predominant ethnopolitical identity cleavages by using innovative repertoires of contention. As a result, this grassroots movement unintentionally brought into being a transcendent political subjectivity that was based on civic principles rather than ethnic values. The essay explores how the Beranselo movement embodied a democratic practice radically different from already available institutional practice of politics, in the process transforming the local ethnos into a demos and creating a dynamic of cross-ethnic, civic-minded mobilisation, organisation, and solidarity.

This essay was written during my research stay at the University of Gothenburg, thanks to a Swedish Institute scholarship. I would like to thank Marina Antić, Katherine Bischoping, Engin F. Isin, Kerstin Jacobsson, Konstantin Kilibarda, James C. Scott, Lesley J. Wood, the editors of the special issue, and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on previous drafts of this essay. All errors and opinions are mine alone.

Notes

¹ When compared to other post-Yugoslav countries, Montenegro shows significantly lower levels of extra-institutional political activism (Bešić 2014, pp. 240–41).

² Prior to the 2000s, the identity categories of ‘Montenegrin’ and ‘Serb’ were not mutually exclusive or antagonistic; rather, they were often interchangeable, as there was substantial overlap between them (Caspersen 2003; Džankić 2014; Jenne & Bieber 2014; Troch 2014).

³ Both the anti-austerity/anti-corruption protests in 2012 (organised by civil society organisations, trade unions and student groups) and the anti-government protests in 2015 (after a violent police raid on protesting political parties) organised by both political parties and activist civic groups were delegitimised in the eyes of the public through state propaganda (as nationalistic, anti-systemic, anti-state and anti-EU), thus preventing the spread of these mobilisations outside their core constituencies and supporters.

⁴ Vasove Vode is a location in Beranselo, a meadow in a forest, known for eight springs of clean, drinkable water. It literally translates as Vaso’s Waters.

⁵ Montenegro experiences high voter turnout in elections in spite of high levels of mistrust in the electoral process, a result of the DPS’s misuse of public resources for ensuring better election results (Kovačević 2014, p. 3).

⁶ Since 2010, when the political contestation in Beranselo began, several comparable popular mobilisations against environmental degradation have taken place in rural Montenegro (for example, in Golija, Gradac, Lješevići, Mahala, Maljevac, Mislov Do, Omerbožovići, Potoci, Prijelozi, Rujište, Tisova Greda, Trešanjski Mlin, and Zbljev), but none of these gained support outside their local communities or municipalities.

⁷ See also Komar (2015). In the first instance, the environmental movement unintentionally served as a catalyst for the fall of the Bulgarian communist regime (Baumgartl 1993), while in the second example the environmental campaign on social media to save Roșia Montană unintentionally expanded the movement by creating a new category of non-activist ‘casual participants’ (Mercea 2014).

⁸ It is not uncommon for people in Montenegro to view the activism of prominent NGO figures negatively, as ‘personal promotion’ (Brković 2013, p. 147).

⁹ It was noted that, in 2010 and 2011, despite ‘[lacking] support and interest from the most influential Podgorica-based civil society organizations’ (USAID 2012, p. 149), Beranselo’s residents, unlike the instigators of other grassroots initiatives, gained widespread public attention (USAID 2013, p. 149). The most influential civil society actors, as well as certain political parties, started supporting and providing assistance to Beranselo in 2012. However, besides concerned citizens and smaller activist groups, during the early stages of contention in Beranselo, only the Nikšić-based environmental organisation Ozon provided the Beranselo movement with legal and logistical assistance, while the Berane-based journalist Tufik Softić was the sole mainstream media voice showing genuine interest in the movement’s struggle.

¹⁰ I have opted for ‘subjectivation’ as the most straightforward translation of Rancière’s ‘subjectivation’, though it has also been translated as ‘subjectification’ and ‘subjectivisation’.

¹¹ This is also how emancipation comes into being, understood by Rancière as the ‘verification of the equality of any speaking being with any other speaking being’ (Rancière 1992, p. 59).

¹² While Lončar was the spiritus movens of the Beranselo movement, Cimbaljević and Babović joined the movement out of solidarity, as discontented citizens.

¹³ This study is not available online, but details of its contents can be found in ‘Borba protiv planine od smeća’, Vijesti, 24 January 2011, p. 11; ‘Vasova Voda za deponiju’, Dan, 7 April 2007, p. 16.

¹⁴ ‘Borba protiv planine od smeća’, Vijesti, 24 January 2011, p. 11.

¹⁵ ‘Vasova Voda za deponiju’, Dan, 7 April 2007, p. 16.

¹⁶ ‘Lukšiću pomagaj’, Environmental movement Ozon, 21 February 2011, available at: http://www.pcnen.com/portal/2011/02/21/luksicu-pomagaj/, accessed 16 November 2015. Since 2005, waste has been accumulating at the Vasove Vode site without treatment or selection, including not only municipal solid waste but more dangerous types of waste, such as biomedical and electronic.

¹⁷ In its Constitution, in Article 1, Montenegro is defined as ‘a civil, democratic and ecological state based on social justice and the rule of law’. Montenegro thus prides itself as being the first constitutionally defined ‘ecological state’.

¹⁸ ‘Saopštenje povodom 20. septembra, Dana Ekološke države Crne Gore’, 2012, available at: http://www.greenhome.co.me/index.php?IDSPIDSp=539&jezik=lat, accessed 18 November 2015.

¹⁹ ‘Nezapamćen sistemski teror i ekocid’, Vijesti, 17 September 2013, p. 10.

²⁰ ‘Ministar ima freške slike’, Vijesti, 6 May 2011, p. 23.

²¹ The waste dump poisoned the soil, nearby streams, and the River Lim. It also affected the air: in the warmer months, the accumulated waste would periodically catch fire and release dioxins, thereby resulting in a measurable increase in lung disease in Beranselo (‘Naslage smeća uništavaju imanja’, Dan, 1 August 2015, p. v). From the dump’s establishment up to 2015, ten Beranselo residents were diagnosed with cancer that was attributed to the extra pollution (‘Kancer “jede” Beranselo’, Večernje novosti, 13 May 2015, p. 26).

²² ‘Vasova voda za eko-katun, ne za smetlište’, Dan, 9 July 2007, p. 17.

²³ Vasove Vode was originally intended to be only a temporary dumping ground, until a more suitable permanent site could be found. However, contrary to the law it became a permanent facility. Interview with Jovan Lončar, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

²⁴ It is important to point out this was not a local example of a NIMBY (‘Not In My Back Yard’) movement. The villagers’ main demand was to halt waste disposal until independent experts could determine whether Vasove Vode fulfilled the criteria for a landfill, and if it was indeed the best location out of the seven proposed. If these experts confirmed the findings of the authorities, Beranselo’s residents agreed not to protest the decision (‘Borba protiv planine od smeća’, Vijesti, 24 January 2011, p. 11).

²⁵ ‘Nemoćni ste u Beranselu’, Vijesti, 24 August 2010, p. 20.

²⁶ Interview with Jovan Lončar, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

²⁷ ‘Deponija na Vasovom dolu’, Vijesti, 8 October 2010, p. 23.

²⁸ In January 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro determined that dangerous medical waste was being stored illegally at the Vasove Vode site (‘Hronologija aktivnosti Ekološke inspekcije u vezi sa neuređenom privremenom deponijom komunalnog otpada u Beranama’, 2011, available at: http://www.gov.me/naslovna/vijesti-iz-ministarstava/102381/Hronologija.html, accessed 17 November 2015). In June 2013, the Administrative Court of Montenegro invalidated the decision of the municipality of Berane to make Vasove Vode a temporary waste storage site, thus effectively declaring any future waste dumping illegal (‘Opština na sudu’, Vijesti, 15 June 2013, p. 37).

²⁹ For instance, Radosavović (2013, p. 2) provides an account on how the movement activists retained animosity and expressed cynicism towards the parliamentary opposition who visited Beranselo in 2013. They wrote off the politicians’ ‘support’ as an opportunistic ‘scoring of political points’ now that the Beranselo movement had become a national news story.

³⁰ ‘Sačuvati zdravlje ljudi i životnu sredinu’, Pobjeda, 5 December 2010, p. 10.

³¹ ‘Dokle?!’ can also be translated as ‘When (will it end)?!’ or ‘For how long (is this going to go on)?!’.

³² Interview with Jovan Lončar, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

³³ ‘Zaboljelo ih ruglo’, Večernje novosti, 11 August 2010, p. 22.

³⁴ The residents of Beranselo won a court case against the local authorities and the billboard was returned to its original position in September 2012 (‘Pobijedila demokratija’, Vijesti, 5 September 2012, p. 36).

³⁵ ‘Ističu vam 90 dana’, Vijesti, 26 August 2010, p. 23.

³⁶ ‘Sami ste tražili’, Vijesti, 13 May 2011, p. 23.

³⁷ ‘Referendum o deponiji’, Vijesti, 9 June 2012, p. 37.

³⁸ ‘NE deponiji na Vasovim vodama’, Vijesti, 11 June 2012, p. 11.

³⁹ ‘Jasno “ne” deponiji’, Dan, 11 June 2012, p. 17.

⁴⁰ ‘Stop ekološkom genocidu’, Dan, 18 November 2010, p. 17.

⁴¹ ‘Nije bilo dobre struje’, Vijesti, 22 January 2014, p. 35.

⁴² ‘Policija ponovo privela meštane’, Večernje novosti, 22 January 2014, p. 28.

⁴³ ‘Za novi početak’, Vijesti, 18 November 2013, p. 37.

⁴⁴ ‘Obračun s prljavom politikom’, Vijesti, 30 January 2011, p. 7.

⁴⁵ Interview with Gojko Cimbaljević, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013. For details on the Civic Declaration see ‘Zeleno gumno protiv smeća’, Vijesti, 24 March 2013, p. 8.

⁴⁶ ‘Zeleno gumno protiv smeća’, Vijesti, 24 March 2013, p. 8.

⁴⁷ Interview with Jovan Lončar, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013. See also, ‘Branićemo tijelima ako treba’, Vijesti, 26 August 2010, p. 22.

⁴⁸ ‘Stidite se što ćutite’, Dnevne novine, 8 November 2013, p. 15.

⁴⁹ Bilić and Stubbs (2015) show that the middle-class habitus of NGO activists in the post-Yugoslav space often equates ‘civic’ with ‘urban’—a term often used to denote an educated, middle-class, and liberal urbanite. At the same time, the term is used to draw demarcation from ‘rural’, which in turn becomes a container of ‘primitive traditionalism’, ‘uncivilised ethnonationalism’ and, ultimately, ‘unenlightened people’. While Montenegro is no exception to this trend, the Beranselo movement was successful in deconstructing ‘civic activism’ by showing that it cannot be reduced to the middle-class habitus and its ‘civility’, but rather is a manifestation of progressive—and often disruptive—political activity by all citizens, the majority of whom were peasants, senior citizens, and (laid-off) workers at the time.

⁵⁰ According to Perović (2014), more than 350 illegal waste-dumping grounds were identified in Montenegro in 2014, the majority of which were not publicly visible.

⁵¹ ‘Beranselac’ designates resident of Beranselo, while the plural is ‘Beranselci’.

⁵² See the documentary film Između rijeke i ljudi (directed by Mladen Ivanović, 2014). Since the Anti-bureaucratic Revolution of 1988–1989, the Beranselo movement has been the only social movement in Montenegro to serve as a topic of a feature-length documentary, as well as of two short films.

⁵³ ‘Vještaci da obezbijede dokaze’, Vijesti, 17 April 2013, p. 36.

⁵⁴ ‘Inicijativa za pomilovanje’, ozon, 14 October 2013, available at: http://www.ozon.org.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Inicijativa-za-pomilovanje.pdf, accessed 17 November 2015.

⁵⁵ ‘Zaboraviće Beranselo pri Potocima’, Dan, 17 April 2014, p. xi.

⁵⁶ ‘Podgorica: Oko 60 građana učestvovalo u maršu protiv korupcije’, Cafe del Montenegro, 2 November 2013, available at: www.arhimed.me, accessed 2 December 2015.

⁵⁷ ‘Čovjek koji se nije uplašio režima’, Vijesti, 4 October 2015, p. 13.

⁵⁸ Email correspondence with Aleksandar Perović, 26 June 2015.

⁵⁹ It was only later that ‘Port Berane’ became the name of an activist rock band.

⁶⁰ In this essay, ‘structural violence’ is understood in the broadest terms as the physical, psychological, and emotional harm that results from the country’s exploitive and unjust social, political, and economic system.

⁶¹ Interview with Gojko Cimbaljević, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

⁶² See the documentary film Između rijeke i ljudi.

⁶³ Interview with Nebojša Babović, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

⁶⁴ The name ‘Port Berane’ is an allusion to the mainstream development narrative that Montenegro is a potential ‘tourism giant’ due to its coast. Berane is, on the other hand, a former industrial town, located in the harsh continental and mountainous area. It is a paradigmatic example of a post-socialist, (post-)transition ‘loser-town’.

⁶⁵ Interview with Jovan Lončar, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

⁶⁶ Interview with Nebojša Babović, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

⁶⁷ Interview with Gojko Cimbaljević, a Beranselo Movement activist, Berane, 14 September 2013.

⁶⁸ In addition to creating memes and photomontages, people from around the world expressed solidarity by holding up ‘We Want Port Berane!’ signs, or placing it next to famous monuments, landmarks or celebrities, as well as posting their ‘Port Berane’ photomontages to social media.

⁶⁹ For instance, the political subjectivity of the Beranselo movement was not created solely through ‘disidentification’ (declassification) in relation to ethnopolitical categories. Beranselo’s residents also expressed solidarity with the country’s LGBT population by tying a rainbow flag to several national flags, an expression of unity among the wronged and the marginalised in Montenegro. Later, prominent LGBT activists would express their support for the struggle of the Beranselci by holding a ‘We Want Port Berane!’ banner.

⁷⁰ ‘Mi tu odluku nismo vidjeli’, Vijesti, 6 March 2014, p. 35.

⁷¹ ‘Pokušavaju da zataškaju ekološku katastrofu’, Dan, 4 March 2014, p. 12.

⁷² ‘Saniraju Vasove vode’, Dan, 2 June 2016, p. 12.

⁷³ ‘Sraman pokuštaj predizborne prevare’, Dan, 25 February 2014, p. 13.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bojan Baća

Bojan Baća, Department of Sociology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, 2071 Vari Hall, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada. Emails: [email protected]; [email protected].