I Slaves
Even before the existence of the written word, slavery was well established in organization of one society. In most cases, slaves were treated as personal property of their possessors, without their own will, every possible kind of rights and no opportunity to change their status. Throughout history, slavery was expressed in several ways: chattel slavery, debt bondage, state slaves, intentured servitude, serfdom, domestic servants kept in captivity, prisoners of war, forced marriage, forced labor, child abandonment and many others. Officialy, slavery ceased to exist during the XIX century and the campagn for abolition, but in many modern societies it is still present in many different forms (for example, debt slaves, largly in South Asia or human trafficking).
Aim of this workshop is to track those people in historical and related sources, and try to show in which way they were marginalized in regard to their ambiance. Who were they? What can we say about their social background? And the ways of their enslavement? Mostly slaves were anonymous and silent part of society, but in some occasions they could be powerful enough to be important part of it.
Workshop leaders: Danica Ilić and Nenad Marković
II Place of women in history
During the long historical development women can, and up to some point must, be considered to be a marginal group in certain societies and whole civilizations in general. One of the main characteristics of most cultures that existed during the historical era is that they were patriarchal societies, i.e. the female members of the society had little or no rights compared to male members. The position of women in the hierarchical pyramid is supported by customs, behavior towards women or, in more advanced social groups, by laws. As it is known the women very often had no bodily integrity and autonomy (and when they got married their integrity belonged to their husbands), no rights of suffrage (voting rights), in most cases they could not hold a public office (with few exceptions throughout the history such as the Vestal order in Ancient Rome), could not have same wages as the men did (if they were allowed to work besides taking care of the household and the offspring), in some groups they could not have the right to own property, enter into a legal contract, or even get a fair education. Hence it is not hard to assume that the women belonging to various societies should be considered to be a marginal group.
The questions that come to one’s mind when it comes to this subject must be many and various. Up to what point were women marginalized in patriarchal cultures? Were they always a marginal group? How were they exactly marginalized? Should women in power be taken as an exception or as a different group in a society? What sacrifices did a woman have to make to come in power? What kind of woman is considered to be Virgin Mary and which one is to be Mary Magdalene? Position of women in different cultures and in different historical periods is a subject closely related to this one and can be treated in this section by trying to emphasize the marginal aspect of it.
Workshop leaders: Bojana Pavlović and Aleksandar Jovanović
III Religious and ethnical minorities
There are few ethnically and religiously completely homogeneous states in the human history. Be it the great empires of old or modern nation states, various polities had to find their way to incorporate different social groups that didn’t share same ethnic identity, language or religion with the ruling group. Ethnic and religious minorities weren’t and aren’t always also the numerical minorities in one society. The main trait that characterizes them as minority is that they are not part of the dominant and ruling group.
The participants of this workshop are invited to discuss the problem of ethnical and religious minorities from ancient to contemporary history. By observing different cases, the participant should be able to trace changing of the treatment of minorities in different societies through history; to talk both about the attitude of the dominant groups of various societies towards minorities and that of the minority groups towards the state, whose inhabitants they were.
Workshop leaders: Vanja Kostić and Ognjen Krešić
IV Sexual minorities
In this workshop we will be dealing with minority and/or marginalized groups in terms of gender, sex and sexual orientation. On the matters of gender and sex, we will be focusing not on the main marginalizing tendencies in male-female relations, but rather on the specific notion of Thirdness and on the idea, image, role and exact position that the other Others had in society throughout history.
There is a variety of aspects to be considered. On one side there is the idea of androgyny that has remained present in European and global culture from Plato’s writings to modern and contemporary art, literature, photography and cinematic narratives. On the other side there is also the phenomenon of permanent physical (sex), or social (gender) change that has affected the identities and social roles of individuals, from ancient and medieval eunuchs to contemporary struggle for social inclusion of transsexual and transgender groups.
The other possible subject could be the marginalization of differently sexually oriented groups and individuals. However, one should be extremely cautious when reflecting on these problems. We must carefully consider different historical, social and cultural contexts and surroundings before making any conclusions, without transposing our own discourse into the past and thus giving way to anachronisms. For instance, classical Greek pederasty, as widely accepted social pattern and form of behavior could not be equalized with 20th century marginalized and repressed notion of homosexuality. Nevertheless, this interesting phenomenon of anachronistic linking to the past in the process of constructing self-awareness and group identity of marginalized elements of the society could also be an interesting topic to discuss.
Workshop leaders: Milena Repajić and Milan Vukašinović
V On the edge of law
Since the beginning of humankind many have lived on the edge of law, but their destinies haven't been subject of scientific studies. The goal of this workshop will be to track and analyze certain members of society that have lived on the outskirts of humanity.
- Prostitution. Can we say that prostitution was always “on the edge of law”? May we impose modern perception to the past?
- Heretics and witchcraft. It is known that members of these groups were persecuted through history and only the methods have varied in different epochs. But what made someone a heretic or witch? A significant sub-unit of heretics and witches were the Satanists and people who practiced dark magic. What can we say about them? One should also think of superstition and the ways that it was used for massive manipulation.
- Bandits and pirates. What made them to become outlaws? To whom they vow their allegiance? Who are they? Criminals or ex soldiers, sailors, craftsmen etc?
- Mass against government. The methods and causes have varied but the riots are permanent from the earliest traces of civilization until today. The unrest's are various: uprisings caused by famine, taxes, debts or the more complex ones such as massive demonstrations against the government, strikes etc.
- Organized crime (in 20th century). Organisations also known as “state in state” with their own ideology, hierarchy, economic and financial activities. But the main question is: what caused formation of these organizations all around world?
- Punishing. All these groups haven't been above the law, so there are certain penalties for their actions. Usually they were physical, torturing or in most cases death. Humanization of punishment started few centuries ago with development of jails.
Workshop leaders: Miloš Lazić and Danko Leovac
VI Health and society
Diseases follow human kind from its very beginning. Whether we are talking about physical or mental problems, diseases have always affected position of individual or a group within society. Aim of this workshop is to represent how society treated sick people. We would like to discover what cultural and demographic consequences of great epidemics are and to try to find out if it is even possible to make a definition of disease.
We are interested in how term sickness/illness/disease has changed in through time. From plague in Athens in 430 B.C to AIDS in 20th century we want to discover position of those who are sick. We want to see how society is dealing with people incapable of work, or people who are mentally sick or soldiers who are dealing with traumas of war. What their position in society can tell us about society?
Workshop leaders: Anja Nikolić and Miloš Vojinović
