Milena Dragicevic Sesic: A Peaceful Struggle for Culture

Awarding Milena Dragićević Šešić an honorary doctorate seemed like the obvious choice to Emmanuel Négrier, the sponsor of this nomination. The director of the Center for Political and Social Studies (CEPEL) recalls their first meeting. It was on June 7, 2019, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Ministry of Culture; the Montpellier-based researcher had invited her to a roundtable discussion because of the quality of her expertise in cultural policy.“That day, she made a strong impression on us, highlighting the risks involved in identifying a role for culture in the construction or reconstruction of national identities in the Balkans—particularly the risks of conflict that this could provoke, as well as the threat of manipulating historical data to reconstruct history retroactively. I really appreciated this perspective, which honors a critical stance in the best sense of the term.”For Milena Dragićević Šešić, it is a matter of“making culture something other than a weapon of war,”as Emmanuel Négrier points out.

Emerging cultural studies

A statement that takes on a whole new meaning when one examines the life of Milena Dragićević Šešić. Born in 1954 in a country then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, she grew up in a modest family where culture and the arts held a special place. Quite naturally, she became interested in the emerging field of cultural studies and enrolled at the University of Arts in Belgrade. She completed her studies at Paris V, particularly under Professor Joffre Dumazedier, considered one of the founding fathers of cultural studies.

She completed her doctorate in 1981 at the University of the Arts in Belgrade, where she later served as rector (2000–2004), having previously earned a state doctorate from the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade (1990). Throughout her career, she has taught a wide variety of subjects, particularly in the fields of cultural event management and cultural policy, actively contributing to the development of these disciplines in Europe.

“Culturologist” and tireless educator

Now a globally recognized expert in cultural policy, Milena readily describes herself asa “culturologist”—a term that exists in Serbian but has no equivalent in French or English. According to Emmanuel Négrier, this“tireless educator”is“deeply involved in research on the international stage,”particularly through the UNESCO Chair in Interculturality and Mediation in the Balkans, which she has held since 2004. She is in demand all over the world—in Asia, Africa, Central Asia…

For her, pure theory must be tested in the field, and reflection must be put into action. But without ever imposing a particular perspective.“Milena has never sought to use her international recognition to propose a one-size-fits-all model that would apply to everyone; she is wary of established principles,”confirms Emmanuel Négrier. Milena Dragićević Šešić has more than twenty books to her credit, some forty articles in international journals, and about fifty appearances as a speaker… The list goes on.  

Toward a Different Model of Cultural Policy

In fact, it was precisely because of its status as an international leader that Cepel was called upon to contribute its expertise to an action-research program titled “Stronger Peripheries .” “The central idea of this project is to build a coalition—both intellectual and practical—in support of developing an alternative model of cultural policy, ” explains Cepel’s director. “We argue that cultural policy models in Europe are directly inspired by countries with specific resources—either market resources in the Anglo-Saxon world, or public sector resources (and thus state resources) in countries like France. But what happens in countries in Southern or Eastern Europe that have neither and yet have aspirations for cultural action?”

Clearly, the social scientist shares the same vision of culture as his Serbian counterpart, who has already been awarded the rank of Commander of the Order of Academic Palms in France (2003) and honored with the prestigious title of Professor Emeritus at the University of the Arts in Belgrade (2020). According to Emmanuel Négrier:“Culture is both a field of activity and a dimension of collective life that can be overtaken by herd mentality and must constantly be the subject of discussion, questioning, and innovation. This allows it to escape dependence on the powerful, in both the public and private spheres.”

Culture as a process of emancipation

With a mischievous look and a smile on her face throughout the ceremony conferring upon her an honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier, Milena used her speech—delivered in excellent French—to emphasize her pride in being“cosmopolitan, non-aligned, European, and Pan-Slavic.” At the same time, she asserts her independence of spirit, not hesitating to warn against“academic capitalism”that threatens university education in an increasingly competitive world, preferring to championa “cultural democracy”capable of defending“culture as a process of emancipation.” Culture is a struggle—a peaceful one, to be sure, but a struggle nonetheless.