When the University Speaks

On the Role of Neutrality and Responsibility Under Pressure

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47061/jasc.v6i1.13037

Keywords:

university autonomy, student protests, institutional neutrality, academic responsibility, direct democracy, Serbia, public university, civic resistance

Abstract

This In Dialogue brings together university workers from Serbia to reflect on the student-led protests that followed the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy and grew into a broader civic movement against institutional failure, repression, and democratic erosion. Speaking as teachers, researchers, professional staff, activists, mentors, colleagues, and citizens, the contributors examine how the university became a visible and contested public institution under pressure. Their conversation follows the transformation of classrooms, corridors, and campuses into spaces of assembly, care, direct democracy, and public deliberation, while also attending to the effects of repression, financial insecurity, public delegitimization, and demands for institutional neutrality. The dialogue asks what it means for the university to speak in such circumstances, whom it addresses, and how academic autonomy can be understood as a responsibility to public life.

Author Biographies

Olja Jovanović, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade

Assistant professor at the Department of Psychology and Center for Teacher Education, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Mila Bakić, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Professional associate at the International Relations Office, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Jelena Kleut, Independent scholar

Independent scholar (after losing her post at the Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad)

Nikola Koruga, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Assistant professor at the Department of Pedagogy and Adult Education, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Marija Radoman, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Research Associate and Head of the Institute for Sociological Research at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Nenad Radulović, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš

Assistant professor at the Department of History, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Niš

Milan Stančić, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Associate professor at the Department of Pedagogy and Adult Education, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade

Oliver Koenig, Bertha von Suttner Private-University in St. Pölten

Professor for Inclusive Pedagogy and Inclusion Management at the Bertha von Suttner Private-University in St. Pölten

References

Backović, V., Marković, S., Radoman, M., & Zvijer, N. (Eds.). (2026). Zbornik radova sa nacionalne naučne konferencije Studentski protesti 2024/25: BloKADA, ako ne SADA [Proceedings of the National Scientific Conference Student Protests 2024/25: BloKADA, ako ne SADA]. Institut za sociološka istraživanja. https://isi.f.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Studentski-protesti-2024-2025-BloKADA-ako-ne-SADA.pdf

Brewer, C., & Young, M. D. (2025). The politics of institutional neutrality: Ambiguity, fear, and the effort to silence higher education in the USA. Frontiers in Education, 10, Article 1639020. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1639020

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (n.d.). Global protest tracker. Retrieved May 18, 2026, from https://carnegieendowment.org/features/global-protest-tracker

Chomsky, N. (1967, February 23). The responsibility of intellectuals. The New York Review of Books, 8(3).

Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1987). Literacy: Reading the word and the world. Bergin & Garvey.

Giroux, H. A. (2011). Teachers as transformative intellectuals. In E. B. Hilty (Ed.), Thinking about schools (pp. 183–189). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429495670-16

Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci (Q. Hoare & G. Nowell Smith, Eds. & Trans.). International Publishers.

Hart, R. A. (1992). Children's participation: From tokenism to citizenship (Innocenti Essays No. 4). UNICEF International Child Development Centre. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/227219?ln=en

Pickerill, J., & Chatterton, P. (2006). Notes towards autonomous geographies: Creation, resistance and self-management as survival tactics. Progress in Human Geography, 30(6), 730–746. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132506071516

This visual was created for the core team meeting of the Innovative Dynamic Education and Action for Sustainability (IDEAS) Asia Pacific program which was attended by colleagues from the Presencing Institute circle in Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Singapore, and Japan. This moment captures the determination of the facilitators who will position themselves on the edges of the system to become the safest container for participants consisting of three sectors (business, government, and society) to co-create better business and a better world especially for Asia Pacific. The colors used represent the spirit of deepening learning and understanding the future, while blue serves as a neutralizer.

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Published

2026-05-31

How to Cite

Jovanović, O., Bakić, M., Kleut, J., Koruga, N., Radoman, M., Radulović, N., … Koenig, O. (2026). When the University Speaks: On the Role of Neutrality and Responsibility Under Pressure. Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, 6(1), 209–238. https://doi.org/10.47061/jasc.v6i1.13037

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): Special Themed Issue: Presencing the Futures of Democracy and Governance

Section

In Dialogue

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Olja Jovanović, Mila Bakić, Jelena Kleut, Nikola Koruga, Marija Radoman, Nenad Raduloović, Milan Stančić, Oliver Koenig

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.