SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2025-06-25 16:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Paris) | University Regensburg, SG. 214, Sammelgebäude
Dr Bojan Baća (University of Montenegro & SeeFField visiting fellow) will give a talk on…
“I’m Not a Conspiracy Theorist, I’m a Conspiracy Analyst”: The Aporias of Conspiracist Ideology in Southeast Europe
Time: 4-6 pm
Venue: SG 214 (Campus, Univ. Regensburg)
Abstract:
Often positioned as a mere object of international relations rather than its subject, the post-Yugoslav region has a long-standing tradition of conspiracism as an ideological lens for interpreting (geo)political reality. During the COVID-19 pandemic – and facilitated by the platformization and gamification of conspiracy theorizing – this tradition evolved from conspiracist estrangement to conspiracist engagement. Many have now fully embraced the once-derogatory label of “conspiracy theorists”, even identifying themselves as “conspiracy analysts”. Their aim is not only to make sense of the inner workings of social reality by developing elaborate conspiracy theories, but also to propose alternative political frameworks and advocate for change – often based on rudimentary “conspiracy analyses” – without sense of shame in doing so.
This seminar examines the similarities and differences among prominent conspiracist communities on Telegram in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, covering the period from 23 February 2022 (the day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine) to 21 January 2025 (the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration). Focusing on how tensions, contradictions, and impasses that destabilize conspiracy theories are resolved through ideological interventions, this seminar explores how these same mechanisms articulate legitimate grievances and forms of social critique, generating common threads that contribute to a shared conspiracist ideology in Southeast Europe.
Bojan Baća is a political and cultural sociologist from Montenegro. He holds a PhD in Sociology from York University and is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Montenegro. Previously, he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, and a Re:constitution Fellow at the Max Weber Institute of Sociology, Heidelberg University. In recognition of his contributions to the study of civil society, social movements, and contentious politics in postsocialist Central and Eastern Europe, he received the 2022 Routledge Area Studies Interdisciplinarity Award.
His research has appeared in leading scholarly journals, including Sociology, Antipode, International Political Sociology, Theory, Culture & Society, Political Geography, Acta Sociologica, and Europe-Asia Studies, among others. As a SeeFField Visiting Fellow, Bojan will examine the (re)production of conspiracist ideology within online communities in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

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SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2025-07-10 16:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Paris) | IOS, Landshuter Str. 4, R 017
Kristóf Nagy (Central European University & seeFField visiting fellow) will give a talk on…
“Far-Right Cultural Politics in a Changing Global Order: The Case of Hungary”
Time: 4-6 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract: This talk explores contemporary culture wars in Eastern and Southeastern Europe amid the global rise of far-right hegemonies. Focusing on cultural infrastructure—the mental and material foundations of cultural production—it examines how state-backed cultural institutions are mobilized in ideological conflicts. While much of the discourse emphasizes media and rhetoric, this talk reorients attention to the institutional and material dimensions of culture wars. At the center of the discussion is the Hungarian Academy of Arts—an emblematic institution of Hungary’s national capitalist regime—where the speaker conducted historical and ethnographic research. By integrating global political economy, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies, I argue for a comparative and global framework to understand contemporary culture wars.
The talk outlines a research agenda that includes not only Eastern and Southeastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Serbia, Slovakia), but also countries like Turkey, India, and Russia, where regimes have restructured cultural institutions to support national capitalist agendas and co-opt intellectuals and artists. The talk proposes that national culture wars are shaped by global shifts—especially the decline of the US-led transatlantic order and the rise of state-centered capitalisms. Viewed through this lens, culture wars in the arts appear as responses to deglobalization and new forms of imperialism.

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SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2025-07-22 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | IOS, Landshuter Str. 4, R 017
Dr Adriana Zaharijević (University of Belgrade) will give a talk on…
“Anti-Gender: Backlash or Strategy? Lessons from the Post-Yugoslav Space“
Time: 6-8 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract: In the first part of the talk, Dr Adriana Zaharijević will share findings from the edited volume Hidden Connection: Anti-Gender Mobilizations in the Post-Yugoslav Space (co-edited with Roman Kuhar). This ‘space’, not so long ago sharing a common political, economic and legal structure, proves to be particularly interesting for the research of anti-gender mobilizations. Seen as a miniature showroom, post-Yugoslav space shows how anti-gender germinates and branches out, and provides persuasive reasons why we should talk about mobilizations, not movements or campaigns. In the second part of the talk, focusing more on Serbia, the speaker will claim that we need to understand anti-gender mobilizations , one that effectively curbs equality as such.
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Public History and Memory Culture Colloquium: Talk by Bleona Kurthesi (seeFField Pre-Doc Fellow)
2025-10-22 18:15 - 19:30 UTC | University Regensburg, PT 2.0.9.
Invitation to the first session of the Colloquium on Public History and Memory Culture where our Pre-Doc Fellow-Bleona Kurteshi-presents her research.
“Memory and Future-Making through Externally Funded Projects in Kosova in the Aftermath of the 1998–1999“
This presentation introduces her PhD project that explores how externally funded memory initiatives in post-war Kosova shape understandings of the past and visions of the future, including narratives around peacebuilding and European integration. The talk will also reflect on the process of developing the PhD project, highlighting the choice of topic from both personal and political perspectives. It discusses the formulation of research questions and the challenges involved in studying memory work in a context closely connected to the researcher. The presentation offers insights into whether memory initiatives funded by international donors and implemented by NGOs operate within complex local and transnational networks.
Bleona Kurteshi (M.A.) studied Sociology at the University of Prishtina and is currently a pre-doctoral fellow in the seeFField project at the University of Regensburg.

Journalist Talks: Die EU und ihr Balkandilemma
2025-10-23 18:30 - 20:30 UTC | VHS, Thon-Dittmer-Palais, Haidplatz 8
Seit über 20 Jahren verspricht Brüssel den Balkanstaaten eine Beitrittsperspektive. In der Realität herrscht quälender Stillstand. Davon profitieren Russland und China.
Enver Robelli ist Mitglied der Politik-Redaktion des schweizerischen «Tages-Anzeiger» und zuvor für diesen und die «Süddeutsche Zeitung» war er der Balkan-Korrespondent mit Sitz in Zagreb. In den 90er-Jahren war er als Übersetzer und Balkanexperte für verschiedene westeuropäische Medien tätig. Als Redaktor und Reporter behält er seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten die politischen, gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Entwicklungen vor allem in Südosteuropa im Blick. Zudem schreibt er über gelungene und gescheiterte Integration von Einwanderern sowie die juristische Aufarbeitung der Kriegsvergangenheit im früheren Jugoslawien.
Moderiert wird das Gespräch von Dr. Konrad Clewing, Historiker und Balkanexperte am Leibniz-Instituts für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (IOS) in Regensburg.
Journalist Talks Series is a part of the seeFField project of the University Regensburg in cooperation with the Volkshochschule Regensburg.

SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2025-10-29 16:00 - 18:00 UTC | IOS, Landshuter Str. 4, R 017
Emina Zoletić (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Sociology, Centre for research on social memories) will give a talk on…
“The Social Life of War Memories: Generalization, Moral obligations, Silences and intergenerational narratives in Bosnian families”
Time: 4-6 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract: Intergenerational transmission of war memories is not merely a matter of recounting the past; it is a complex social process that unfolds through narratives, silences, embodied practices, artifacts, and spatial encounters. In Bosnian families affected by the 1992–1995 war, the past is continually negotiated through everyday life, ritual, and relational dynamics that elevate certain experiences while suppressing or reframing others. This talk argues that generalization, moral obligation, and silence are complementary mechanisms through which families transform individual and collective wartime experiences into transgenerational narratives of identity, belonging, and moral orientation.
The central part of this talk examines intergenerational war memories and wartime migration in Bosnian and diasporic families across several locations in the European Union, the United States, and Sarajevo. Attending to both local and transnational dimensions, this talk shows how intergenerational transmission of memory is processed, experienced, and activated by participants during several highly charged political conjunctures.

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Podiumsdiskussion: 30 Jahre danach - Die tiefen Spuren der Jugoslawienkriege
2025-10-30 18:30 - 20:00 UTC | Evangelisches Bildungswerk, Am Ölberg 2, 93047 Regensburg, Bonhoeffer-Saal
Nach über drei Jahren Krieg im zerfallenden Jugoslawien leitete das Jahr 1995 die Wende ein. Im Mai 1995 tötete die bosnisch-serbische Armee in der UN-Schutzzone Tuzla in Bosnien und Herzegowina 71 Menschen durch Granatbeschuss. Im Juli 1995 exekutierten die bosnisch-serbische Armee und von der Polizei Serbiens bezahlte paramilitärische Kräfte im Genozid von Srebrenica mehr als 8.000 Bosniaken. Im August 1995 eroberte die kroatische Armee in einer Serie militärischer Operationen die serbischen Aufstandsgebiete zurück. Rund 200.000 Serben flohen bzw. wurden aus Kroatien vertrieben. Den Schlusspunkt setzte der im November 1995 erzielte Friedensvertrag von Dayton.
Dreißig Jahre sind seitdem vergangen. In dieser Zeit haben Kroatien, Bosnien-Herzegowina und Serbien jeweils unterschiedliche Wege eingeschlagen. Kroatien wurde 2009 NATO- und 2013 EU-Mitglied. Doch die Jugoslawienkriege bleiben eine schwere Bürde, nicht nur im Politischen, sondern auch im alltäglichen Miteinander. Neue Generationen wachsen heran, deren Gegenwart noch immer von den Ereignissen von vor dreißig Jahren geprägt ist. Nationalismus, Autoritarismus und Populismus haben erneut Aufwind. Wie tief sind daher nach dreißig Jahren die Spuren der Jugoslawienkriege? Und kann von einem anhaltenden Nachhall gesprochen werden, der transformativ und richtungsweisend wirken kann? Diesen Fragen stellen sich Expert:innen aus Wissenschaft, Medien und Kunst auf der Podiumsdiskussion.
Diskussion und Austausch mit:
Dr. Alida Bremer, freie Autorin und Übersetzerin, Münster
Prof. Dr. Klaus Buchenau, Historiker, Universität Regensburg
Dr. Nicolas Moll, freiberuflicher Berater transnationaler und -europäischer Projekte, Sarajevo
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Željana Tunić, Kulturwissenschaftlerin, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Moderation:
Prof. Dr. Ger Duijzings, Universität Regensburg

Eine Kooperationsveranstaltung von: IOS, seeFField, Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft e.V. (Geschäftsstelle München und Zweigstelle Regensburg) sowie Evangelisches Bildungswerk Regensburg e.V.

SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2025-11-24 16:00 - 18:00 UTC | IOS, Landshuter Str. 4, R 017
Olivier Winistörfer (Universität Zürich) will give a talk on…
“The Balkans and the Sprachbund. The impact of language contact on the languages of the Balkans”
Time: 4-6 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract:
The languages of the Balkans have fascinated linguists for almost two centuries. Researchers have documented striking structural parallels that make the Balkans a textbook example of a sprachbund, since Jernej Kopitar’s (1829) comparative work on Albanian, Balkan Romance, and Balkan Slavic.
In this talk, I bring together quantitative data (from linguistic typology and genetics) and qualitative evidence (from dialectology) to explore how areality, and thus, language contact, has shaped these systems. I’ll show not only where Balkan languages have converged structurally, but also why the absence of certain linguistic features can be just as revealing as their presence. This perspective sheds light on how linguistic systems influence each other over time and how we can detect those connections in the present.
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SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2025-12-10 16:00 - 18:00 UTC | IOS, Landshuter Str. 4, R 017
Prof. Dr Josip Glaurdić (Université du Luxembourg) will give a talk on…
“Contagions – Nationalism, Populism, and the Pandemic at Europe’s Edge“
Time: 4-6 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract: What happens when a public health crisis collides with fragile democracies and deeply polarized societies? Why did some Southeast European states initially outperform expectations in managing COVID-19, only to later suffer some of the world’s highest mortalityrates? And what can this region – often dismissed as peripheral – reveal about the resilience and fragility of democracies everywhere?
This talk presents Contagions: Nationalism, Populism, and the Pandemic at Europe’s Edge, a forthcoming book that explores how ideology shaped the trajectory and memory of the pandemic in Southeast Europe. Based on original surveys, cross-national comparisons,and a wealth of empirical evidence, the book argues that the pandemic was not only a health emergency but also an ideological stress test – one that exposed the ways nationalism and populism structure public trust, compliance, and collective memory.
Join us for a discussion of the book’s core questions: How did nationalism and populism interact with crisis governance? What does Southeast Europe teach us about the vulnerabilities of liberal democracy under strain? And how might the pandemic’s legacies continueto shape political life long after the virus has receded?
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Journalist Talks: Investigativer Dokumentarjournalismus auf dem Westbalkan
2026-01-20 18:00 - 19:30 UTC | VHS, Thon-Dittmer-Palais, Haidplatz 8, R 219
Investigativer Dokumentarjournalismus ist auf dem Westbalkan entscheidend für die Aufdeckung von Machtmissbrauch, Korruption, sozialer Ungleichheit und den langfristigen Folgen von Krieg und politischer Instabilität. In diesem Journalist Talk spricht die preisgekrönte Journalistin und Dokumentarfilmerin Vjosa Cerkini über ihre langjährige Arbeit in der Region und die Herausforderungen, unter politischem Druck, eingeschränkter Pressefreiheit und gesellschaftlichen Spannungen zu recherchieren.
Anhand konkreter Beispiele aus ihren Dokumentarfilmen und Reportagen für internationale Medien zeigt sie die Unterschiede zwischen journalistischer Arbeit auf dem Westbalkan und in Zentraleuropa – etwa im Umgang von Polizei, Justiz und Behörden mit Korruption, Nepotismus und familiären Netzwerken.
Der Talk beleuchtet journalistische Methoden, ethische Fragestellungen und Sicherheitsrisiken vor Ort, betont die Verantwortung, marginalisierten Stimmen Gehör zu verschaffen.
Kurzbiographie
Vjosa Cerkini ist eine preisgekrönte internationale investigative Journalistin, Reporterin und Dokumentarfilmerin aus Pristina, Kosovo. Sie arbeitet seit über zehn Jahren für internationale Medien in Deutschland, Europa, den USA. Ihre journalistische Arbeit konzentriert sich auf Kriminalität, Politik, Menschenrechte, Korruption, politische Machtstrukturen und die Stimmen von Frauen in Konflikt- und Transformationsgesellschaften. Cerkini ist europäische Repräsentantin von Women’s Voices Now in Los Angeles und leitet internationale Medien- und Dokumentarfilm-Workshops für junge Frauen. Ihre Filme und Recherchen wurden international gezeigt und ausgezeichnet.

Journalist Talks Series is a part of the seeFField project of the University Regensburg in cooperation with the Volkshochschule Regensburg.

SNAKLAB Regensburg Southeastern Europe Research Seminars
2026-01-28 17:00 - 19:00 UTC | IOS, Landshuter Str. 4, R 017
Vassilis Petsinis (Institute of Global Studies, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary) will give a talk on…
“Echoes of the War in Ukraine: Political Ramifications in the Baltics and the Balkans“
Time: 5-7 pm
Venue: IOS, R 017, Landshuter Straße 4, 93047 Regensburg
Abstract:
In a cross-regional approach, Vassilis Petsinis generates new insights about how developments of groundbreaking significance in regional and global politics (here, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022) can exert powerful ramifications on the domestic politics of other states and societies. Inside the geopolitical context of Central and Eastern Europe, this monograph examines this ‘external impact’ on selected empirical cases from Northeastern (Estonia and Latvia in the Baltic States) and Southeastern Europe (Croatia and Serbia) through the spectrum of idiosyncratic and fluctuating intersections among ethno-nationalist, nativist, Eurosceptic, and ‘other’ trends (e.g. Occidentalism inside the political and sociocultural context of Serbia) at the level of domestic politics.
This is a highly relevant contribution inside an increasingly unpredictable international system where the responses of major actors (Russia, China, and the US) to armed conflicts, or other global crises, can vary from peculiar alignments all the way to alarming friction.
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