Serbia: Letter to Students Around the World
Wanneer: 20/01/2025 - 22:00
https://bab2025.espivblogs.net/2024/12/21/letter-to-students-around-the-...
From Balkan Anarchist Bookfair
December 2024 & January 2025
This letter is an urgent call to action!
Currently, in Serbia, students have full control over 62 out of 80 faculties. This is the largest student protest in our region since 1968. It was triggered by a series of tragic events caused by decades of repression, corruption, and violence perpetuated by the ruling regime. The opposition has so far proven itself incompetent with its methods, which is why we, the students, have taken matters into our own hands. We have suspended classes, dissolved all representative student bodies, self-organized plenums, voted on demands, formed work groups, and begun to apply pressure. We have moved into faculty buildings and adapted them for daily life. We have set up kitchens, dormitories, pharmacies, workshops, cinemas, and classrooms for self-education. In just three weeks, almost all university buildings in Serbia have become hubs for round-the-clock political self-organization. We have the full support of our fellow citizens, we survive on their donations, and every day, other vulnerable groups in society are joining our fight.
Faculty blockades are the most radical form of student self-organization. A blockade involves the suspension of classes, exam obligations and operates independently of the support of professors and administration. You have the right to self-organize in this way, and thanks to the autonomy of the university, you are also protected from direct police intervention. The faculty remains blocked until your demands are met. The suspension of a faculty’s operations itself serves as a form of pressure on state institutions. What a strike is for workers, a blockade is for students. Historically, faculty blockades have proven successful in the fight for more accessible education, but today, we must use them to address broader societal problems.
We organize blockades through work groups. Work groups are open to everyone who wants to participate and focus on strategy, public actions, media, security and activities within the blocked faculty. Work groups present their ideas and proposals to the plenum. The plenum is an open forum for all students of the faculty. Through plenary sessions, direct democracy is put in practice. Everyone has an equal voice and the right to decide on matters concerning the direction of the protest.
The world is on the brink of collapse, representative democracy is failing, and our future is at risk. This is the only way to take control and change the course of the world. There are countless reasons for a blockade, and you know best what yours is.
Translate and share this letter!
Self-organize and start practicing direct democracy now!
Students of the word, join the blockades!
https://www.instagram.com/sviublokade.fdu/
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What a strike is for workers, an occupation is for students: an interview with a student from Serbia
From Balkan Anarchist Bookfair:
https://anarchistnews.org/content/serbia-letter-students-around-world