We continue celebrating 20 years of Reconstruction with a conversation with the founders! Read the interview below with Svenka Savić, a linguist, Professor Emerita at the University of Novi Sad, and retired professor of psycholinguistics at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad.
Why was Reconstruction founded, and why was it important to establish it at that time?
The Open Society Foundation had offices in Belgrade since 1992 and in Novi Sad since 1993. In both cities, the Foundation supported projects focused on the needs and visibility of women. At the “Women’s Studies and Research” association, we successfully collaborated with the Foundation and with the Center for Women’s Studies in Belgrade for 10 years. However, in the next decade, at the beginning of the 21st century, the Foundation discontinued some of its programs, arguing that good results had been achieved through the efforts of the non-governmental sector and that Serbian institutions should now take over some of these tasks.
At the University of Novi Sad, during the tenure of Rector Fuada Stanković, in February 2002, we organized an international conference on the introduction of women’s/gender studies into the educational system at UNS – funded by the Open Society Foundation. The conclusion was to establish the Center for Gender Studies for the 2003-2004 school year as an accredited program, initially for specialist and master’s studies, and the following year for master’s and doctoral studies. It was necessary to design and secure scholarships for studies and the completion of the final thesis for this type of educational program.
Since knowledge from women’s and gender studies was not produced anywhere in undergraduate studies at the time, meaning the entire program was innovative (not just in Serbia), it was clear that scholarships would not be awarded within institutions for this new type of studies. Slavica Stojanović, who worked on women’s programs at the Foundation and had all the relevant information on how it was done worldwide, suggested that several of our NGOs, which had long collaborated with the Foundation, unite to establish a new foundation. Therefore, Women in Black (Staša Zajović), Women’s Studies and Research (Svenka Savić) and the Open Society Foundation (Jadranka Jelinčić), got together as founders of the Reconstruction Women’s Fund. All the documentation for registration was prepared by Slavica Stojanović with her newly formed team. One of the goals was to provide financial (and other) assistance to female students in the higher education program of women’s and gender studies, then mostly active in Belgrade and Novi Sad.
Ever since 2004, for over 20 years already, female students have received support for postgraduate studies: master’s, specialist, and doctoral studies – a total of about 100 women have had the chance to be educated in this program. It involves financial assistance for tuition and/or the defense of the thesis. These funds were deposited into the UNS account and used to finance the educational program. In other words, over 20 years, RWF has financially supported this program for female students in a state institution. I emphasize this because it has been a common understanding for years that the University of Novi Sad made a significant step… but in reality, it just opened the door for something that we activists in the academic community further implemented with the financial support of RWF (and some other alternative foundations sporadically).
Today, one of the basic assessments might be: How much has this type of support contributed to the current state of knowledge in the women’s movement in our country and the region, especially in various fields of science, arts, and education? A comprehensive assessment of such a contribution is still to come, but it is certainly significant: most of today’s female academics with a degree in gender studies work in positions where such knowledge is needed and useful.
We can state that most of the doctoral theses defended at the Center for Gender Studies at UNS in Novi Sad have been published, and some are even included in the educational program. Those who have obtained a doctoral degree in gender studies in Novi Sad are today among the leaders of the women’s movement: Jelisaveta Blagojević, Gordana Stojaković, Jelena Višnjić, Silvia Dražić, Jelena Stefanović, Smiljana Milinkov, Ervina Dabidžinović, Iskra Vuksanović, Slavca Denić… of course, the list is much longer and also includes those who have not used the financial support of RŽF but have earned a doctoral degree in gender studies (Margareta Bašaragin, Dragana Pejović, Sanja Kojić Mladenov, Zorana Antonijević, etc.).
The list of female students who have received financial support for master’s and specialist studies is even longer. The value of investing in education for gender issues is immeasurable…
Regarding that, what is the role of women’s funds in general, and especially in societies that are going through a crisis/trauma or trying to face them?
Perhaps I should first answer the second part of the question, “especially in societies that are going through a crisis/trauma or trying to face them.” Indeed, ever since the Fund was founded, Serbia has been in a crisis situation. And it works in two directions. The first relates to the affirmation of the ideology of gender studies (precisely, women’s NGOs are represented in the public as insufficiently patriotic organizations, pro-Western oriented), and on the other hand, it relates to the quality of the work done – everything we do within NGOs is not of sufficient quality, it is belittled in public space.
What was the role of RWF then, and what is it today?
I think there is a constant when it comes to the role, and then we can differentiate the domains in which it manifests. The role of RWF has been to maintain a firm course of democratic, anti-fascist, anti-war, uncompromising action against nationalism, an anti-dogmatic approach to humanistic endeavors – to make our world better. That’s why some people are highlighted as good models: the sociologist Žarana Papić, after whom the stipend program was named. What we need to maintain is the memory of our comrades on these issues who are no longer with us. Because the number of such comrades is not small anymore. I think now, rightly, more programs are focused on youth or teenagers, which was not the case initially.
Why was it important for RWF to define itself from the beginning as a fund against war, nationalism, militarism, etc.?
Not only was it important, but it remains important today as well! Because war was the dominant direction in the broader social atmosphere in the country when it was formed (and remained so to this day). Rattling of weapons is not unknown in the Balkans and Serbia, always with tremendous consequences; therefore, it is important to insist on anti-war themes over a long period, on people who promote such a stance, on printing books, and other types of information with the same orientation. Knowledge against war is the basis of the RWF program. Moreover, it is so easy to create conflict within a multinational, multi-confessional society, as it is in Serbia today, and has been before, too. It has been so difficult to build coexistence for the long term, both now and earlier. Our neighbors are the closest to us, regardless of their nations, religions… Our neighbors are our closest…
Why was it personally important for you to be part of this process, and what would you highlight as the most significant achievements of RWF over these 20 years?
First, because within my academic career, I did not have the opportunity to realize such ideas, as the Department of Serbian Language at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, where I spent my professional life, is focused mainly on students of one national community. Innovations are hard to pass. I have not followed all the projects in the last decade at RWF when there were more festival-type events, spreading knowledge horizontally. It was important for me to be part of this process because there was a direct relationship between what happens in the academic community and the opportunity to implement it in practice. For example, the theoretical approach to gender-sensitive language.
There is a lot of accumulated effect of RWF in various domains; I have followed the one related to gender studies. What is necessary is to gather in one place all this knowledge and skills, socializing, encouragements… so that the future will remember us…
RWF is an organization that connects us (keeps us in constant connection) from the past to the future.
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