From protest to parliament: the political emergence of Ne davimo Beograd Ethnography of entanglement of individual self-making and identity framing

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to describe the ways in which members of Ne davimo Beograd (Do not let Belgrade drown) created their sense of self while participating in creation of the movement’s identity. To showcase these parallel processes, I will use two main concepts – identity and self-making. I examine the interconnectedness and entanglement of identity framing and self-making of an individual. Using the understanding of identity as a quality of the group, I explore how participation in creation of this identity impacts the self-making of the individuals that do it. To illustrate this I use example of Ne davimo Beograd, a movement turning into a political party in Serbia. I explore how this transition from activist civil rights movement to more formal political party influences the presentation of the movement’s identity as well as self-making of the members.