Milena Dragicevic Sesic: a peaceful struggle for culture

Awarding Milena Dragićević Šešić an honorary doctorate was an obvious choice for Emmanuel Négrier, the patron of this nomination. The director of the Centre d'études politiques et sociales (CEPEL), remembers 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 policies. "That day, she made a strong impression on us, underlining the risks involved in identifying a role for culture in the construction or reconstruction of national identities in the Balkans, notably the risks of conflictuality that this could provoke, as well as the threat of manipulation of historical data for the benefit of an a posteriori reconstruction of history. I really liked this vision of things, which is a tribute to critical thinking in the best sense of the word.For Milena Dragićević Šešić, it's a question of "making culture something other than a weapon of war", as Emmanuel Négrier points out.

Emerging cultural studies

A phrase that takes on a different dimension when we look at the biography of Milena Dragićević Šešić. Born in 1954 in a country that was still called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, she grew up in a modest family where culture and the arts were given pride of place. Naturally, she took an interest in emerging cultural studies and enrolled at the Belgrade University of the Arts. She completed her studies at Paris V, in particular with Professor Joffre Dumazedier, considered one of the fathers of cultural studies.

She completed her doctorate in 1981 at the University of the Arts in Belgrade, where she became Rector (2000-2004), not without completing her training with a state doctorate at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Philology (1990). Throughout her career, she has taught a wide range of subjects, particularly in the fields of cultural organization and cultural policy, playing an active role in the development of these disciplines in Europe.

"Culturologist and tireless educator

Now a world-renowned specialist in cultural policies, Milena likes to call herself a "culturologist", a word that exists in the Serbian language but has no equivalent in French or English. According to Emmanuel Négrier, this "tireless pedagogue" is "deeply involved in international research", notably 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 confronted with the field, reflection with action. But without ever imposing a vision of things. "Milena has never sought to use her international recognition to propose a turnkey model that would be valid for everyone; she's wary of established principles," confirms Emmanuel Négrier. Milena Dragićević Šešić has over twenty books to her credit, some forty articles in international journals, some fifty speaking engagements... The list goes on.  

Towards a new model of cultural policy

As an international reference, Cepel has called on its expertise for an action-research program entitled Stronger peripheries. The central idea of this project is to build a coalition of intellectuals and actors in favor of the development of an alternative cultural policy model," explains Cepel's director. We're defending the idea that cultural policy models in Europe are directly inspired by countries with specific resources, either market resources in the case of the Anglo-Saxon world, or resources of public action (and therefore of the State) in the case of countries like France. But what happens in countries to the south or east of Europe, which have neither and yet have a desire for cultural action?"

Clearly, the social scientist shares the same vision of culture as his Serbian counterpart, already elevated to the rank of Commander of the Palmes académiques in France (2003) and decorated with the prestigious title of Emeritus Professor at Belgrade University of the Arts (2020). According to Emmanuel Négrier: "Culture is both a field of activity and a dimension of collective life that can be overtaken by gregarious temptations, and must constantly be the subject of discussion, questioning and innovation. This is whatenables it to escape dependence on the powerful, in both the public and private sectors."

Culture as a process of emancipation

With a mischievous look in her eyes and a smile on her lips throughout the ceremony in which she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier, Milena took advantage of her speech, delivered in excellent French, to underline her pride in being "cosmopolitan, non-aligned, European and Panslavic". At the same time, she asserts her independence of spirit, not hesitating to warn against the "academic capitalism" that threatens university education in an increasingly competitive world, preferring to promote a "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.