International Conference "The polyphonic voice of youth" - Call for Abstracts

Institute of Ethnography SASA, Belgrade, 13 May 2025 

Young people are simultaneously depicted as at the forefront of progressive social movement activism, responsible for the surge in electoral success of populist radical- right parties across Europe and as being politically 'apathetic'. This may say as much about societal failure to understand the heterogeneity of the category of 'youth' as about the contours of youth political and civic participation and contribution to societal life. This International Conference offers a space to share research findings on the diverse experiences of young people in different structural and geographical locations. It provides an opportunity to reflect on how young people are represented and positioned in contemporary societies and how intersectional political subjectivities are being shaped in turbulent social and political times. We invite participation in the conference including (but not exclusively) on the following themes: 

1. Young people's social and political activism including civic, 'pre-political', creative, and student activism
2. Emergent intersectional political subjectivities among young people
3. Marginalised or stigmatised young people and their political (and non-political) response
4. Representation of youth and youth issues in local, national and supra-national policy debate
5. Youth voice and political representation

The conference is organised by the Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade (https://etno-institut.co.rs/en). The Institute of Ethnography SASA is the leading research institution in Serbia for the study of contemporary and historical social processes and phenomena. The one-day conference will take place on 13 May 2025 at the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Belgrade. Following the conference, participants will be invited to submit their conference papers for possible inclusion in a special thematic issue of the Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnography SASA. 

The call for abstracts is open to researchers at all stages of experience, including to PhD students. Please note that the conference is in-person only and costs of participation must be borne by participants. There is no registration fee for participation. 

If you would like to participate, please send an abstract of max 300 words together with a short bio (max 250 words) to: Katarina Mitrović Ražnatović katarina.mitrovic@ei.sanu.ac.rs and Ivan Đorđević ivan.djordjevic@ei.sanu.ac.rs . Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 3 March 2025. Notification of acceptance will be by 10 March 2025.

The programme of the scientific conference can be downloaded HERE.