Tuesday, February 10 | 12:00 – 1:30pm EST | Register Today
What really happens inside a movement when people decide to govern themselves? Anatomy of the Plenum takes readers inside the student blockades that swept Serbian universities after the deadly Novi Sad railway station collapse, offering a rare, ground-level view of how ordinary students built extraordinary systems of collective decision-making. Drawing on dozens of in-depth interviews, the book reveals how plenums—horizontal, participatory assemblies—became living laboratories of democracy: spaces where students debated strategy, managed conflict, organized logistics, confronted repression, and wrestled with the messy realities of direct rule by the many.
Join three of the book’s authors for a live conversation unpacking what the plenum experience teaches us about power, legitimacy, organization, and the limits—and possibilities—of participatory democracy. An activist respondent from New Generation Germany will reflect on the book’s insights from the perspective of lived movement experience, connecting the Serbian case to broader struggles for democratic agency around the world. This webinar offers a timely discussion about how movements learn, adapt, and make decisions under pressure.
Learn more about the book and download a copy in English or Serbian.
Report Release in Novi Sad, Serbia
On Monday, January 26, the Center on Nonviolent Conflict Research (CNCR) hosted in Serbia the release event of our new book, Anatomy of the Plenum: Power, Decision-Making, and Organizational Learning During Student Blockades in Serbia at the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina in Novi Sad. Authors Marko Škorić, Aleksej Kišjuhas, and Jovana Čikić took the stage to present the book, sparking insightful conversations with the audience — several of whom arrived directly from a protest held earlier that day in Novi Sad.
Published by People Power Publishers, CNCR’s new publishing initiative, the book is part of the Nonviolent Conflict Special Report series, which continues the legacy of the ICNC Special Report series and ICNC Press.
