Power in offensive, on the part of the destruction of state universities: Professor of the Faculty of Law warns of the consequences of continuing student blocks – society

It is not a capitulation, but recognition that battles are not running at all costs, especially if the price destroys what we are trying to defend. We fight that institutions do their jobs and are independent, and we collapse the only independent universities – says Vanja Bajović, professor of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, describing the current situation in which the faculties are at six months of blockages.

The request for calling the election students entered the field of policies and heard the evaluation that now means changing the current strategy and that it is time for a different form of struggle. How do you fight this fight in the future?

– Faculty blocks had a sense until 15. March, when students were in strong offensive, and tensions in society at its peak. During these three months, the blockades were more than clear that the Prosecution under this authority does not want or cannot fulfill student requirements. At that moment, in my opinion, it was supposed to go to « Plan B », ie to the political articulation of the fight. It was enough to this set the mentioned word elections, a hundred thousand present, the same scan and elections would be, I guess, were very quickly announced because there were at the peak at the peak at that moment of tensions.

Until that moment, they have been blocked by college, and they had some sense and a waste of classes of three months could easily be reimbursed. After 15. Mart, it seems to me that the student movement was a little bit of the transition government, even though the people did not receive one of the students in the blockade why it was not exited to the political requirements, they were already beginning to be added to the existing requirements.

In the meantime, the regime started a counterattack on state universities.

– Sporting regulation The regime has left employees of Maltene without salaries, because teachers do not hold classes, lawsuits of self-financing students who return to them, because they do not attend classes, criminal charges against rectors and deans, etc. Now that we say this is a narrative to withdraw from the fight as soon as they « turned per pocket », but it is not about our salaries, but that state universities lost all financial resources, and without financial autonomy, there is no real university autonomy.

The idea of ​​choice I advocated for the idea of ​​setting up the election request (which was to be asked), the blockade ends and « the fight » was transferred from the faculty to the streets and other social actors – opposition and dissatisfied citizens. If it’s good, then nothing … wondering the idea of ​​the general strike, it seems as bad as it doesn’t even be streaming, whose destruction was long, and is now finalized by nailing the nails into the state faculty system. Further survival in blocks in my opinion is in no way putting pressure on power, and it goes in favor of the interests of those who want to destroy higher education.

The announcement of the two faculties will begin what teaching, the classes have already encountered students’ condemnations in blockages that do not agree to a compromise. Some argue that the Faculty of Law would also act as FON and economically that the administration did not resign.

– I am not a supporter of unilateral decisions made without agreement with students, nor I think that now the simulation of normalcy would lead to normalcy. I mean those who think that we would now, if we start working, returned the salary, withdrawn the disputed regulation and the like, to be immediately returned to the old, as if the blockades did not even happen. Also, I am not a supporter of calculating but morally correct decisions, and in my opinion, the only moral decision of us professors is to strike, because economic and social rights have never been threatened to us as today.

More precisely, in the strike, it took a controversial regulation, however, the faculties in the blockade and the exams were held, and there was fear that such a strike would be declared illegal, which would then serve as a basis for further punishment. Students in blockade on the other hand believe that « with compliance » of their blockade would be disturbed and thus we are in a deadlock, at general dissatisfaction of all actors involved except those who have been on the agenda of state colleges.

The silence of the dean and most university teachers is striking. The impression is that no one wants to confront students in plenums, and the fact is that the number of those who actively participate in the blockade is much smaller than before. It seems that the management of faculties and teachers themselves do nothing to save the academic year.

– I can’t gain an objective picture of the number of students on the plenum and blocks, depends on the ones you talk to. When you talk to students who support blockages, they say that everyone else supports blockades, when you talk to students who don’t support blockades, they say that a handful of students blocking the entire college. The supporter that the students themselves agree on whether they are blockades or not, but not to vote through e-students, which can be furnished and is never secret, but at the direct voting at colleges, such when student representatives are elected. We professors supported student requirements, and the students themselves have seen the blockages as the best way to achieve.

The problem is that more stories about the (non) founders and consequences of the blockades themselves, but about student requirements, which is deeply wrong. Therefore, from this perspective, and I think that student protests were much better way to pressure from blockade, because the blockades only contributed to the regime to achieve what he had buried the colleges long ago. On the other hand, every forced breakdown would mean the confrontation of students and professors, they are struggling that they actually only contributed to the authorities … so that we are from this perspective that we are all manipulated, and students and we professors.

Because again, that the canopy did not fall and killed people, no blockade would be. So that this government is not catastrophic and exclusively with its interests of survival, but I cannot notice the blockades – consciously or not – served as a perfect agenda realization that has long been bugging over state education.

Part of the students who supported the blockades, expected to do something from the management of the Faculty, and the Administration, the students believe that these students need to come to the plenums and to overhang the hardest minority that further insists on blocks. However, no one wants to make the back of the hand to return to class be marked as « Obe » or a traitor.

– That’s right. Now such an atmosphere has been created that no one trusts anyone more, so each vote is now interpreted as a betrayal, « fly » to the other side, and it is the opposite.

How did we come into a situation that the state universities were fired by the blockade victims? Is there a danger that students, fighting for institutions, eventually collapsed their institution, is that university?

– Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens. Instead of regimen the political price due to unresolved tragedies, the blockades provided him with a perfect excuse to start a long prepared offensive at state universities. Instead of obtaining the fulfillment of the request, we received inspections, penalties, reduced budgets, criminal charges, threats to abolish salaries and the possibility that all budget students move to self-financing. Although the struggle was guided to preserve institutions, the consequences could be their collapse. And not because students were wrong, but because they – unconsciously – chose the form of resistance that was easier instrumentalized against them themselves. The problem is not in moral correctness of the blockadea, but in their realistic consequences, which I acknowledge, I was not very aware, so I guess not even students.

Can further insistence on maintaining the blockade of the head of the head of the future student list for purely existential reasons? Because in the corpus of those who supported the student fight we now have concerned students and their parents who are not ready to wait several years to meet the requirements, and that the faculties do not work. And on the other hand, teachers will also not be able to bear the burden of drastic reduction in earnings. The regime fits people turn against each other.

– Of course, I’ve been warning students, that blockades at this point are counterproductive, but I’m considering that the university never stayed better, because we « reputational » strong, we showed teeth and the like. I don’t agree with that. Further blockades only deepen dissatisfaction with the college employees, which those whose children study, and I do not see that the government is so earthing that faculties do not work. They were still welcome to implement their intention to privatize higher education.

When that happens, everyone will blame each other’s blockade fiery will blame the authority, which happened, not realizing that the blockades gave them space for something like that. Because the students were only protested would not be space for the Faculty of Inspection because they did not work. On the other hand, many will blame the university criminals and us professors who support them, which we approached everything from clean, justice and honest intentions. After all, who is guilty, it is not important – it is a consequence that state universities will be weakened and privatized, so there will be neither space for some future bunt or free thought without them, no university in the true sense. Because when you destroy the education of the occupier and should not need – the people will be held in slavery itself.

Did students call you to find yourself on the list for future choices?

– I informally told my students that I was not a good choice for their list. Everyone who knows me know that I’m hard for compromises, a great individual, too honest, naive and impulsive and I’m afraid to hurt them more damage to their presence. There are a lot of better professors from me, who are a far better choice for that list and I am sure that it will be found on it.