11–12 Jun 2026 Annual Conference
Stockholm University
Europe/Stockholm timezone

Pitfalls of Transitional Justice and (In)Security in the Western Balkans: Case Study of Serbia

12 Jun 2026, 15:00
10m
Stockholm University

Stockholm University

Frescativägen, 114 19 Stockholm, Sweden
Paper Abstract (Closed Panels) Regional Security in the Balkans Regional Security in the Balkans

Speaker

SANDRA CVIKIĆ (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Regional Center Vukovar)

Description

Drawing on the author's previous work, this paper offers insight into the implementation of transitional justice policies in the Western Balkans after the violent wars that accompanied the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia, with a focus on the former Yugoslav state of Serbia. This qualitative sociological analysis explores the paradoxical effects of the transitional justice process on Serbian populations and governments since 2001. The Serbian transitional justice process has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on the security of the entire Western Balkans region. The insecurity and instability of Serbian regimes are therefore analysed from a critical sociological perspective (Foucauldian discourse analysis) within the transitional justice framework of post-war liberal democratic development. A selection of key scholarly works on transitional justice in the Western Balkans and Serbia, as well as documents produced by international organisations and institutions, is reviewed.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how liberal notions of human and minority rights, justice, freedom, equality, rule of law, and peace in post-war societal reconstruction through the transitional justice process can have diverse and unintended consequences that contribute to the destabilisation and insecurity of the Western Balkans, which still struggles to maintain a steady course towards EU and NATO membership.
Key words: transitional justice process, (in)security of the Western Balkans, Serbia.

If you are submitting an Open Panel proposal, have you included all four abstracts in attachment? No, I am submitting a Closed Panel abstract
Would you like to be considered for travel funding through the NetSec COST Action? Yes
Are you a member of the NetSec Management Committee? Yes
What discipline or branch of humanities or social sciences do you identify yourself with? Sociology
Which of the following best describes your stage of the career? Associate Professor
In which country is your home institution? Croatia
What is your gender? Female

Author

SANDRA CVIKIĆ (Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Regional Center Vukovar)

Presentation materials